Relationships of the Big Five facets and dysfunctional attitudes with depression.

There are two parallel lines of research on the relationship between personality and depression, one based on the Big Five personality model and one on Beck's cognitive theory of depression. However, no study has jointly examined the dimensions and facets of the Big Five and the dysfunctional attitudes of Beck's theory. This was the objective of the present study. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R), the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS-A), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-IA) were applied to 221 adults from the Spanish general population (53.7% females; mean age: 38.3 years). Various multiple linear regression analyses revealed that only the facet of depression was significantly related to depressive symptomatology. The different associations of the broad and specific personality traits and the need to control as many third variables as possible to prevent the finding of spurious relationships are discussed.

Complicated Grief in a Spanish Sample of Victims of Terrorism: Evidence of Validity of the Inventory of Complicated Grief.

The Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) is the most widely used instrument to measure complicated grief (CG), but its psychometric properties have hardly been examined in relatives of those who died by violent means. The objective of this study was to obtain evidence of validity of the ICG in a relatives of those who died due to terrorist attacks in Spain. The factorial structure, internal consistency, and relationship with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress were analyzed in a Spanish sample of 211 relatives of people who died in terrorist attacks. The ICG presented a one-factor structure that supports the validity of its total score. This score showed excellent internal consistency indices (alpha = .927; omega = .932) and adequate correlation indices with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (r = .71, .63 and .76, respectively). The ICG provides reliable and valid measures of CG in adults who have lost a family member due to violent death.

Growing Up With Terrorism: The Age at Which a Terrorist Attack Was Suffered and Emotional Disorders in Adulthood.

Abundant scientific literature shows that exposure to traumatic situations during childhood or adolescence has long-term psychopathological consequences, for example, in the form of a higher prevalence of emotional disorders in adulthood. However, an evolutionary perspective suggests that there may be differential vulnerabilities depending on the age at which the trauma was suffered. As there are no studies on the psychopathological impact in adulthood of attacks suffered during childhood or adolescence, the objective of this study was to analyze the influence of the age at which a terrorist attack was suffered in the presence of emotional disorders many years after the attack. A sample of 566 direct and indirect victims of terrorist attacks in Spain was recruited, of whom 50 people were between the age of 3 and 9 when they suffered the attack, 46 were between 10 and 17 years old, and 470 were adults. All of them underwent a structured diagnostic interview (SCID-I-VC) an average of 21 years after the attacks. No significant differences were found between the three age groups at which the attack occurred in terms of the current prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or anxiety disorders. The results of several multiple binary logistic regression analyses also indicated that, after controlling for the effect of sex, current age, the type of victims, and the time since the attack, the age at which the attack was suffered was not related to the current prevalence of those emotional disorders. The results are discussed concerning the differences between various types of trauma and in the context of the theories that propose that traumatic experiences are processed differently at different ages and can lead to differences in the likelihood of developing different emotional disorders.

Effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for terrorism victims with very long-term emotional disorders / Efectividad de la terapia cognitivo conductual centrada en el trauma para víctimas de terrorismo con trastornos emocionales a muy largo plazo

BACKGROUND: There are no published studies on the clinical utility of psychotherapy in victims of terrorism who suffer emotional disorders many years after the attacks. METHOD: A course of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was administered to 50 victims of terrorist attacks that occurred an average of 23 years previously and who presented isolated or concurrent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 74%), major depressive disorder (54%), panic disorder (38%), or other anxiety disorders (38%). RESULTS: According to an intention-to-treat analysis (N = 50), these percentages decreased significantly to 24% (PTSD and major depression), 16% (panic disorder) and 14% (other anxiety disorders) at 1-year follow-up. According to a complete data analysis, at posttreatment no victims (n = 31) still presented major depressive or panic disorder, only 3.2% presented PTSD and 9.7% presented other anxiety disorders, whereas at 1-year follow-up, no victims presented any disorders (n = 22). At posttreatment and at the 1-, 3-, 6-month, and 1-year follow-ups, large statistically and clinically significant decreases in PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptomatology were found (d = 1.26 to 2.52 at 1-year follow-up). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that efficacious treatments for recent victims are also useful in the usual clinical practice for victims with very long-term emotional disorders

ANTECEDENTES: no hay estudios publicados sobre la utilidad clínica de la psicoterapia para víctimas del terrorismo con trastornos emocionales muchos años después del atentado. MÉTODO: se administró terapia cognitivo conductual centrada en el trauma a 50 víctimas de atentados ocurridos una media de 23 años antes y que presentaban aislada o concurrentemente trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT; 74%), depresivo mayor (54%), de angustia (38%) u otros trastornos de ansiedad (38%). RESULTADOS: según un análisis de intención de tratar, esos porcentajes disminuyeron significativamente al año a 24% (TEPT y depresión mayor), 16% (trastorno de angustia) y 14% (trastornos de ansiedad). Según un análisis con datos completos, en el postratamiento ninguna víctima (n = 31) presentaba ya trastorno depresivo mayor o de angustia y solo un 3,2% TEPT y un 9,7% otros trastornos de ansiedad, mientras que al año ninguna víctima presentaba trastornos (n = 22). En el postratamiento y en los seguimientos a 1, 3 y 6 meses y al año, hubo descensos en sintomatología de TEPT, depresión y ansiedad estadística y clínicamente significativos y grandes (d = 1.26 a 2.52 al año). CONCLUSIONES: los tratamientos eficaces para víctimas recientes también son útiles en la práctica clínica en víctimas con trastornos emocionales a muy largo plazo

Effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for terrorism victims with very long-term emotional disorders.

BACKGROUND: There are no published studies on the clinical utility of psychotherapy in victims of terrorism who suffer emotional disorders many years after the attacks. METHOD: A course of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was administered to 50 victims of terrorist attacks that occurred an average of 23 years previously and who presented isolated or concurrent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 74%), major depressive disorder (54%), panic disorder (38%), or other anxiety disorders (38%). RESULTS: According to an intention-to-treat analysis (N=50), these percentages decreased significantly to 24% (PTSD and major depression), 16% (panic disorder) and 14% (other anxiety disorders) at 1-year follow-up. According to a complete data analysis, at posttreatment no victims (n=31) still presented major depressive or panic disorder, only 3.2% presented PTSD and 9.7% presented other anxiety disorders, whereas at 1-year follow-up, no victims presented any disorders (n=22). At posttreatment and at the 1-, 3-, 6-month, and 1-year follow-ups, large statistically and clinically significant decreases in PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptomatology were found (d=1.26 to 2.52 at 1-year follow-up). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that efficacious treatments for recent victims are also useful in the usual clinical practice for victims with very long-term emotional disorders.