Trauma Blog

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and human services providers in practice ‎and in training: A global collaboration on psychotrauma survey project
StressPoints
Date posted: 06/28/2023
Topic: COVID-19

As we enter the fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic’s impact on population mental health is of uncertain magnitude and duration (Manchia et al., 2022), but evidence from numerous surveys indicate adverse outcomes for girls and women (Sun et al., 2023), gender minority individuals (Nowaskie & Roesler, 2022), individuals with physical health problems (Robinson et al., 2022), older adults, and children and adolescents (Zolopa et al., 2022). A particularly vulnerable group, despite having a high level of resilience, are healthcare workers and organizations, and the mental/behavioral health impact on medical, nursing and other physical healthcare providers is well recognized (e.g., Ford et al., 2022; Hannemann et al., 2022; Sahebi et al., 2021). However, the toll on mental/behavioral health and human services providers has not been systematically evaluated, with only two surveys to date. One, conducted in 2020 with 110 psychotherapists from the United Kingdom, identified burnout as prevalent (Kotera et al., 2021). The second, a survey of child/adolescent, couples and family therapists in Canada (N=1280 in July 2020; 905 in June 2021), found that therapists reported better mental health than the general population but increasing difficulties with sleep, anxiety, sadness, irritability and mood swings in 2021 compared to 2020 (Battam & Hilbrecht, 2021).

COVID-related workplace stress and mental health: The role of institutional betrayal
Date posted: 05/5/2023
Topic: COVID-19
The current blog explores whether institutional betrayal moderates the relationship between COVID-related workplace stressors and mental health outcomes among a sample of nurses practicing during the early stages of the COVID pandemic. The direct effects of insitutional betrayal, workplace stressors, and mental helath are also explored. Results are discussed in light of ways to bolster support for nurses.

Research Methods During COVID-19: Critique and Recommendations for Trauma Researchers
StressPoints
Date posted: 12/15/2022
Topic: COVID-19
In response to COVID-19, pandemic scientists, including trauma scholars, have made herculean efforts to develop successful treatments, vaccines, and effective mitigation strategies and to understand the impact of the pandemic on public mental health. The need to socially distance made survey research a popular tool for some of this work: A web search of science for “COVID-19” and “survey” produces 23,174 articles as of March 16, 2022. Translating these findings into effective public health policy, however, has faltered as the public has struggled to cope with conflicting messages, misinformation, and disinformation (Dhawan et al., 2021). The result has been shifting guidelines, public confusion, and a declining trust in public health agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC; RAND Corporation, 2021). Inconsistencies in messaging have also fueled the sense of uncertainty created by the pandemic, which could further undermine public trust in the guidelines suggested to mitigate COVID-19 risk. To remedy this situation, we need to recognize how science itself may have contributed to the problem.  

Presidents Message
StressPoints
Date posted: 05/17/2022
Topic: COVID-19
I know I am not alone in that the ISTSS Annual Meeting is one of the highlights of my year. The opportunity to gather as a community of traumatic stress professionals, to connect with old and new colleagues who become friends, and to learn about all of the cutting-edge science and clinical practice occurring across the globe is uplifting and energizing. One of the highlights of my ISTSS presidency thus far has been collaborating with the talented and hardworking 2022 Annual Meeting Committee Chairs Drs. Jennifer Sumner and Sierra Carter, Co-Chairs Drs. Isaac Galatzer-Levy and Joanne Mouthaan, and ISTSS Staff Members Raven Hardin and Dr. Diane Elmore Borbon. Your Annual Meeting Committee has an exciting and dynamic program in the works.
 

President's Message
Date posted: 01/27/2022
Topic: COVID-19
The New Year is a time marked by reflections of the past and hopes for the future. I am truly honored to serve as ISTSS President. I am humbled to stand on the shoulders of the giants who have come before me to build and guide ISTSS into the premier traumatic stress organization that it is, one that so many of us call our professional home. 

Research Methods: The Promise and Pitfalls of Internet-Based Sampling
StressPoints
Date posted: 01/27/2022
Topic: COVID-19
Internet-based sampling has become commonplace in trauma research. The potential of internet-based studies was highlighted during COVID-19 with a multitude of online surveys launched across the world. However, there are some aspects of internet-based sampling that should be considered as we examine the body of literature that has emerged from this research and attempt to draw conclusions.

SIG Spotlight: ISTSS Trauma & Technology Special Interest Group
StressPoints
Date posted: 09/30/2021
Topic: COVID-19
Technology has been integrated into research and clinical services for traumatic stress populations for decades. However, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an exponential shift to virtual work for many researchers, clinicians and health care providers as they continued to enroll participants in ongoing research, engage patients in trauma-informed mental health services, or conduct other day-to-day responsibilities. This global health crisis presented a critical need for mental health service systems to make digital health resources available and accessible to individuals following traumatic events.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted patients receiving PTSD care?
Date posted: 08/16/2021
Topic: COVID-19
One of the biggest changes to the mental health landscape since the onset of the pandemic has been the rapid and wide-scale switch from in-person therapy to telehealth. The adoption of telehealth may represent a silver lining to the pandemic, insofar as telehealth can increase the availability and convenience of psychotherapy. Born out of necessity to maintain physical distancing imperatives, this shift is likely to be permanent for at least some portion of mental health care provision. 

President’s Message
Date posted: 04/1/2021
Topic: COVID-19
As I was reading Dr. Debra Kaysen’s March 2020 President’s Message to find inspiration, it became quickly evident that what she wrote last year still rings true today, one full year later: “We are in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic that has upended most of our lives in ways that six [18, now] months ago would have been impossible to fathom.” However, while many things have remained the same, others have also significantly changed over the past year. I would therefore like to start this March 2021 message by amending Dr. Kaysen’s message and reminding us all that “we are in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic that has [taught us how to solve problems in creative and ingenious ways that 12] months ago would have been impossible to fathom.”

Prospective Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Childhood Trauma-Exposed Individuals
Date posted: 03/12/2021
Topic: COVID-19
Since the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been declared a pandemic in March 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020), extensive public health actions to slow down the spread of the virus (e.g., social distancing, self-isolation) have been implemented worldwide. While these actions were implemented “to flatten the curve”, they also come along with an enormous impact on public mental health. Investigating mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population and vulnerable groups has thus been proposed as an immediate research priority (Holmes et al., 2020)