Parent-Child Communication About Potentially Traumatic Events: A Systematic Review.

Social support plays an important role in children's well-being after experiencing a potentially traumatic event (PTE). One such source of support is the parent-child relationship, specifically by discussing the event. However, current literature provides no consensus on whether parents and children communicate about PTEs, in what way they might communicate and how this affects the child. Hence the goal of the current study is threefold, to explore: (a) whether parents and children communicate about PTEs, (b) what this communication looks like, and (c) how this affects children's well-being. These questions are answered by means of a systematic literature review. Articles were eligible for inclusion if it was an empirical study on communication between parents and children about a PTE that the child (under 18 years) had experienced. Initial searches in electronic databases provided 31,233 articles, of which 26 were deemed eligible for inclusion. Results show that most parents and children have discussed PTEs, but that this may depend on cultural background. What the parent-child communication looks like depends on various factors such as, age of the child, tone, and child's initiation of discussion. Parental post-traumatic stress symptoms seem to negatively impact communication. The results of the impact of communication are less clear-cut, but it seems to have a predominantly positive effect on the child's well-being, depending on parental sensitivity. Clinicians should be watchful for parental symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and can focus on promoting parental sensitivity and responsiveness when discussing PTEs with their child or on creating a joint narrative within families.

Involving a Significant Other in Treatment of Patients With PTSD Symptoms: A Systematic Review of Treatment Interventions.

Previous studies have called for the inclusion of social support in the treatment of PTSD. The current review identifies interventions for adults with PTSD symptoms, which include a significant other as a source of social support. 11 articles focusing on eight interventions were found, including a total of 495 participants who had experienced trauma. These interventions were divided according to level of involvement of the significant other in treatment. Significant others were either passively or actively involved in the treatment. Preliminary results show that interventions actively involving a significant other in the treatment of the patient with posttraumatic stress symptoms were most effective in reducing PTSD symptoms. The current review provides recommendations for future research and suggests that significant others should be actively involved in the treatment of PTSD symptoms.

A meta-analysis of mentalizing in anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and trauma and stressor related disorders.

BACKGROUND: The number of studies that have researched the ability to mentalize in individuals with anxiety and related disorders is limited. Often, no distinction is made between different anxiety and related disorders in the examination of mentalization. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to obtain insight into mentalization in anxiety and related disorders, and to compare this ability between these disorders. METHOD: A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies in which performance on a mentalization task was compared between a patient group diagnosed with an anxiety or a related disorder, and a control group. Meta-analyses were performed on the included articles. RESULTS: The initial search yielded 2844 articles, of which 26 studies on 1056 patients were included. Patients diagnosed with anxiety and related disorders showed a deficit in mentalization when compared to healthy controls (SMD = -0.60, p 0.001). A deficit was found in all patient groups: Patients with anxiety disorders (SMD = -0.39, p = 0.007), obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (SMD = -0.78, p = 0.01), and trauma and stressor related disorders showed significant deficits (SMD = -0.77, p = 0.02) as compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSION: The results indicated impaired mentalization in anxiety and related disorders, with specific deficiencies in posttraumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Mentalization could provide a clinical target in treatment of these disorders.