Trauma, violence & abuse
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Jan 2019
Meta AnalysisEffects of Interviewer Support on Children's Memory and Suggestibility: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Experimental Research.
The accuracy of children's reports of abuse has been hotly debated in the press, academia, and the courtroom. Yet, children's accuracy depends, in part, on the context in which children are interviewed. Guidelines often recommend creating a supportive psychosocial context to promote open, honest responding; however, there is also concern that support promotes social desirability and acquiescence to suggestion, leading children to report more of what they perceive adults want to hear than the truth. ⋯ Effects are in the moderate range. Interviewer support is also associated with fewer errors on nonsuggestive questions. Discussion focuses on implications for practice; directions for future research; identifying vulnerable subgroups; and underlying cognitive, social, and emotional mechanisms.
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Oct 2017
ReviewNonfatal Strangulation as Part of Domestic Violence: A Review of Research.
This article reviews recent scholarship around the issue of nonfatal strangulation in cases of domestic violence. In the mid-1990s, the San Diego City Attorney's Office began a systematic study of attempted strangulation among 300 domestic violence cases, becoming one of the first systematic research studies to specifically examine the prevalence of attempted strangulation as a form of injury associated with ongoing domestic violence. Prior to this time, most of the research into strangulation was conducted postmortem, and little was known about the injuries and signs of attempted strangulation among surviving victims. This article reviews the research that has since been conducted around strangulation in domestic violence cases, highlighting topics that are more or less developed in the areas of criminology, forensic science, law, and medicine, and makes recommendations for future research and practice.
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Jul 2017
Psychological Aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Systematic Review.
Despite ongoing local and international peace efforts, the Jews, Arabs, and other residents of Israel and the Palestinian territories (i.e., the West Bank and Gaza) have endured decades of political, social, and physical upheaval, with periodic eruptions of violence. It has been theorized that the psychological impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict extends beyond the bounds of psychiatric disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Exposure to the ongoing conflict may lead to changes in the way Israelis and Palestinians think, feel, and act; while these changes may not meet the thresholds of PTSD or depression, they nonetheless could have a strong public health impact. ⋯ We found evidence that exposure to the conflict informs not only the way Israelis and Palestinians think, feel, and act but also their attitudes toward different religious and ethnic groups and their degree of support for peace or war. We also found that Palestinians may be at particularly high risk of experiencing psychological distress as a result of the conflict, though more research is needed to determine the extent to which this is due to socioeconomic stress. Our review suggests the need for more studies on the nonclinical psychological aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as for longitudinal studies on the impact of the conflict on both Israelis and Palestinians.
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Jul 2017
ReviewPermanency and Safety Among Children in Foster Family and Kinship Care: A Scoping Review.
Over the past 25 years, kinship care placements have risen dramatically, such that when a child enters into care, child welfare agencies must first attempt to identify safe living arrangements with relatives or individuals known to the child before searching for alternatives. Despite the growing emphasis on kinship care, little is known about its impact on child outcomes in comparison to other placement types (e.g., foster family). Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to evaluate quantitative research on children in out-of-home care from 2007 to 2014 with regard to the following outcomes: (1) permanency (i.e., reunification, reentry, placement stability, and adoption/guardianship) and (2) safety (e.g., additional reports to child welfare). ⋯ The findings also indicated that differences in these variables diminish over time. Findings for safety outcomes were mixed. Study methodological limitations and recommendations for future research are considered.
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Trauma, violence & abuse · Jan 2017
ReviewMental Health Help Seeking Among Traumatized Individuals: A Systematic Review of Studies Assessing the Role of Substance Use and Abuse.
Prior research has suggested that competing neurobehavioral decision-making processes might affect health outcomes among traumatized populations. Regulatory imbalances to impulsive and executive decision systems are affected by high levels of stress, including stress resulting from traumatic events. Such regulatory imbalances have been associated with addictive behaviors. However, it is not well known whether addictive behavior increases or decreases the likelihood of utilization of behavioral health services among traumatized populations. The aim of this study is to systematically review mental health utilization studies targeting traumatized populations to determine the direction of association between substance use and behavioral health utilization. ⋯ Studies have shown that for the most part, substance abuse increases the likelihood of utilization, except among younger populations with more recent trauma. Longitudinal studies that access how utilization evolves over time among traumatized populations and interacts with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse severity are necessary to better understand how decision-making processes of traumatized individuals may increase the likelihood of chronic PTSD.