Mental Health, Women Issues, Violence, Terrorism and PTSD
Predictive Role of Hardiness on Psychological Symptomatology of University Students Experienced Earthquake
by Mithat Durak
Hardiness, perceived social support, coping styles, emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, stress, earthquake experience, psychological symptomatology, university students
The present study intended to investigate the role of stress and the predictive values of stress resistance factors on... more The present study intended to investigate the role of stress and the predictive values of stress resistance factors on psychological symptomatology and to examine the psychometric properties of Personal View Survey III-R (PVS III-R) in order to demonstrate the utility of the scale in Turkey. Predictive values of hardiness, perceived social support and coping styles were investigated on psychological symptomatology for different student samples formed on the basis of their earthquake experience level. Totally, 380 students from Middle East Technical University and Abant İzzet Baysal University participated in the present study. The subjects were given the Turkish version of Life Events Inventory for University Students (LEIU), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), The Ways of Coping Inventory (WCI), Personal Views Survey III-R, and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). The internal consistency and the concurrent validity of PVS III-R were satisfactory however the components of the scale were not differentiable according to the factor analysis. Hierarchical multiple regression analyzes confirmed the significant predictive value of stress resistance factors on symptomatology and the moderator role of hardiness in the relationship between stress and symptomatology. Also, hardiness had a significant predictive value beyond the stress level and other stress resistance factors for non-experienced earthquake students. On the other hand, the predictive strength of hardiness on symptomatology was not beyond stress and other stress resistance factors for the students who experienced earthquake. Emotion-focused coping and perceived social support predicted a significant portion of psychological symptomatology beyond the stress level and other variables for experienced earthquake students. The results demonstrated that hardiness seemed to be effective in predicting psychological symptomatology as well as stress, coping styles and perceived social support however its role might be questionable for traumatic events perceived as far beyond control. After discussion of the results in terms of theoretical and methodological perspectives, the limitations of the present study and the suggestions for future research were also handled.
Factors associated with posttraumatic growth among the spouses of myocardial infarction patients
by Mithat Durak
Key Words: cognitive processing, environmental factors, individual factors, myocardial infarction patients, posttraumatic growth, spouses of myocardial infarction patients
To clarify the rationale behind Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), a model by Schaefer and Moos describes the relative... more To clarify the rationale behind Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), a model by Schaefer and Moos describes the relative contribution of environmental resources, individual resources, event related factors, cognitive processing and coping (CPC) on PTG. In the present study, this model was tested with the spouses of myocardial infarction patients with data from various hospitals in Turkey. A structural equation model revealed that neither individual nor environmental resources had indirect effects on PTG through the effect of event-related factors and CPC, while they showed direct effects on PTG. The findings were discussed in the context of the theoretical model.
Factors Associated with Posttraumatic Growth Among Myocardial Infarction Patients: Perceived Social Support, Perception of the Event and Coping
by Mithat Durak
Key Words: Posttraumatic growth, Perceived social support, Perception of the event, Coping, Myocardial infarction patients
Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) is accepted as positive transformations that are a product of struggling with significant... more Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) is accepted as positive transformations that are a product of struggling with significant stressors such as chronic illness. A model, conceptualized by Schaefer and Moos (Posttraumatic growth: Positive changes in the aftermath of crisis, pp 99–126, 1998), suggests a relative contribution of environmental and individual resources, perception of the event (PE) and coping in the development of PTG. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of perceived social support (PSS), PE and coping on PTG. This model was tested in a sample of patients with myocardial infarction (MIP, N = 148) from various hospitals in Turkey. The structural equation analysis of the model revealed that PSS was significantly related to PTG through the effect of coping. While coping was significantly and directly related to PTG, PE was not. The findings are discussed in the context of the theoretical model with suggestions for future research.
Intersections of war trauma, culture, and socioanalysis in mental health intervention for post-traumatic stress
by Athena Madan
International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies (2011) 3 & 4: 432-449.
Keywords: medicalisation, mental health, refugee, social world, trauma, genocide, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
“Refugee war trauma” is a poor adjunct to post-traumatic stress, lacking context for a civilian survivor of war. The... more
“Refugee war trauma” is a poor adjunct to post-traumatic stress, lacking context for a civilian survivor of war. The “therapeutic mission”, or consolidating a therapeutic agenda with political reconstitution, has its tensions: Such founders embody politics of emotionology bound largely to pharmaceuticals, from a land of freedom (where emphasis is on market) and democracy (where emphasis is on autonomy of choice, not accountability). Additionally, how people cope or solve problems is not universal: Therapy speaks of self-empowerment, self-actualisation, and self-control; reconciliation speaks of collective citizenship, national participation, and group reform. Instituting participation in rituals that ‘help” according to predefined norms of an American prescription to suffering speaks more to the globalisation of the American psyche than of humanitarian relief.
This paper looks at the absence of cultural and socio-political specificities within the dominant discourse on war trauma, that are however of ultimate relevance for people affected by war. Using a case example from my own practice with a Rwandan woman living now in Canada, I question the helpfulness of post-traumatic stress treatment with this instance of refugee war trauma, and the impact of power systems in mental health care. How can the therapeutic encounter, given its genesis in Eurocentric, patriarchal, enlightenment thought, pause to better consider its potential for injury, especially within contexts of post-colonial genocide? How to avoid a new “mission to civilise”? What tensions to note as the advent of “trauma counselling” seeks more global application and transnational legitimacy?