A group therapy approach to treating combat posttraumatic stress disorder: interpersonal reconnection through letter writing.

Many who have served in a war zone carry deep emotional wounds that go beyond the typical symptom clusters of reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarousal that comprise a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, many combatants experience unresolved grief, guilt, and shame caused by losses and traumatic experiences suffered in war, called "moral injury" by some clinicians and researchers (e.g.

Validation of the Perkins Adolescent Risk Screen (PARS).

Purpose: To examine the initial psychometric properties for the PARS, a brief interview used to screen for 16 items of adolescent risk and protective factors.

Methods: Participants included 193 adolescents, attending public middle and high schools or a university-based Adolescent Clinic. Participants completed a PARS interview, as well as a battery of questionnaires.