ISTSS - International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

Bringing together clinicians and researchers from around the world to advocate for the field of traumatic stress.

For Professionals For Survivors COVID-19 Resources

Healing Trauma Together

The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies is dedicated to sharing information about the effects of trauma and the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences. ISTSS is an international interdisciplinary professional organization that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about traumatic stress.

JTS Study Finds LGBTQ Sexual Victimization Persists in U.S. Military

A U.S. Department of Defense study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress found that LGBTQ members of the U.S. military are at higher risk for sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. Sexual victimization during service has been linked with a range of adverse psychological and physical health outcomes.

Read about it in the ISTSS Trauma Blog and in U.S. News and World Report.

ISTSS Student COVID-19 Grants

Submit your proposal by June 8, 2020.

The COVID-19 outbreak is causing unique challenges for students. ISTSS is funding up to $12,000 in grants for ISTSS Student Section members, up to $3,000 for each grant. ISTSS Student Section members are invited to submit proposals focused on traumatic stress and the COVID-19 global pandemic. Successful proposals will support student-led initiatives investigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the greatest potential to contribute to the field of traumatic stress.

Updated Virtual Special Issue: Resilience and Recovery in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2019, the Journal of Traumatic Stress created a virtual special issue on “Trauma, Recovery, and Resilience," the theme of the 2019 ISTSS Annual Meeting. JTS Editor in Chief Patricia K. Kerig and ISTSS President Debra Kaysen have revisited this topic in light of the global trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continuing to Deliver Gold-Standard Treatment: Cognitive Processing Therapy during COVID-19

Posted on 05/17/2020 by Stefanie T. LoSavio and John C. Moring

In response to COVID-19, mental health providers have had to quickly and creatively adapt treatment delivery, with many transitioning to telehealth. Like those in other professions, many clinicians have likely found the shift to video-based work challenging (e.g., Jiang, 2020; Skalar, 2020). With the stress of using a new treatment delivery format, there is a risk of drift from evidence-based practice. However, this need not be the case.

Making PTSD Screening More Likely by Identifying Abbreviated Versions of the PCL-5

Posted on 05/09/2020 by Timothy J. Geier, PhD, Sadie Larsen, PhD., & Terri deRoon-Cassini, PhD

Life after a traumatic injury can be scary and stressful. Beyond the general stressful life disruptions and uncertainties, there are often numerous follow-up appointments for the patient, such as physical rehabilitation, wound care, and pain management. There are also numerous professions with different goals involved in the care for the patient during this time, including surgeons, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, as well as mental health professionals.

Worst life events and media exposure to terrorism

Posted on 05/09/2020 by Rebecca R. Thompson, PhD; E. Alison Holman, PhD, FNP; & Roxane Cohen Silver, PhD

Unfortunately, all people are likely to have something bad happen to them over the course of their lifetimes. Our team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine was interested in how people consider and catalog their various life events, including both direct, individually-experienced events and indirect, collectively-experienced ones, to determine which is their “worst” life event.

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