Does posttraumatic stress exacerbate pregnancy complications associated with violence exposure during pregnancy?
The concurrent experiences of violence and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) have a more severe impact on health than violence exposure alone, but little is known about how PTSS may be related to pregnancy complications for women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). This blog offers novel information on how IPV types and PTSS interact during pregnancy, including how they may contribute to the intergenerational transmission of trauma via the experience of pregnancy complications. Findings highlight the need for evidence-based prenatal interventions that successfully address both IPV exposure and mental health, including posttraumatic stress.

Clinician’s Corner: Grief Recovery with Individualized Evidence-Based Formulation (GRIEF) Approach – A Transdiagnostic Treatment Package for Traumatic Loss Survivors
StressPoints
Roughly half of the U.S. adult population has lost a close friend or family member to a violent, or traumatic, death, including deaths due to homicide, suicide, motor vehicle crashes, accidents, or disaster-related injury. Although many survivors of traumatic loss naturally adjust in adaptive ways to this profound and pervasive stressor, a substantial proportion contend with significant mental health challenges and impairment. Traumatic loss survivors are at increased risk for a range of bereavement-related mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and prolonged grief disorder (PGD). These mental health problems can adversely impact multiple areas of physical and mental functioning among survivors, increasing risk for suicidal ideation and mortality. 

Time to Build the Evidence for Psychological First Aid
Communities affected by disasters—and resultant humanitarian crises—experience increased social, emotional, and psychological distress. Psychological First Aid (PFA) has become a widespread intervention of choice in such cases. We conducted a systematic review to find out the state of current evidence for PFA.

Research Methods During COVID-19: Critique and Recommendations for Trauma Researchers
StressPoints
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.  

Military Matters: Not All Traumas are Created Equal: Phenotypic Heterogeneity of PTSD Symptoms in Relation to Index Traumas in U.S. Military Veterans
StressPoints
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prevalent in military veterans and is associated with reduced mental and physical health functioning as well as overall quality of life (e.g., Hoge, Auchterlonie, & Milliken, 2006; Hoge et al., 2007; Pietrzak et al., 2013). According to the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013), PTSD consists of 20 different symptoms. However, not all symptoms are required for a diagnosis of PTSD, and PTSD symptom profiles can vary considerably. Indeed, one study found that there are over 600,000 symptom combinations that could yield a DSM-5 diagnosis of PTSD (Galatzer-Levy & Bryant, 2013). Given such heterogeneity, increased attention has been given to the nature and severity of trauma exposures, as well as the role of index traumas in shaping the phenotypic expression of PTSD symptoms. 

Student Perspectives: Experiencing Workplace Bullying in Graduate Student-Supervisor Relationships
StressPoints
There are places where bullying is less expected, yet it can still be present. University students can experience bullying from any member of the university community. We will focus here on exploring bullying that can exist between a supervisor and their graduate student. This relationship, which can span several years, lends itself particularly to possible relationship difficulties that can lead to different forms of violence. In fact, this relationship is rooted in a power dynamic within a competitive and individualistic academic context that both graduate students and professors must follow in order to fit in and progress in the field (Yamada et al., 2014; Goodboy et al., 2015). Therefore, graduate students are a population that is particularly vulnerable to interpersonal violence in the workplace from their supervisors (Yamada et al., 2014; Goodboy et al., 2015).