Unpacking trauma exposure risk factors and differential pathways of influence: predicting postwar mental distress in Bosnian adolescents.

Methods are needed for quantifying the potency and differential effects of risk factors to identify at-risk groups for theory building and intervention. Traditional methods for constructing war exposure measures are poorly suited to "unpack" differential relations between specific types of exposure and specific outcomes. This study of 881 Bosnian adolescents compared both common factor-effect indicator (using exploratory factor analysis) versus composite causal-indicator methods for "unpacking" dimensions of war exposure and their respective paths to postwar adjustment outcomes. The composite method better supported theory building and most intervention applications, showing how multitiered interventions can enhance treatment effectiveness and efficiency in war settings. Used together, the methods may unpack the elements and differential effects of "caravans" of risk and promotive factors that co-occur across development.

Working memory span tasks: Group administration and omitting accuracy criterion do not change metric characteristics.

The study examined the psychometric characteristics of three automated working memory span tasks: operational, reading, and symmetry span task, administered in groups of participants. For each task, the metric characteristics of six scoring procedures were evaluated: partial, absolute, partial non-weighted, absolute non-weighted, partial weighted, and absolute weighted scoring. Metric characteristics of all measures were compared across two parallel analyses: with and without application of a typical 85% accuracy criterion on the processing component of the tasks. The study demonstrates that the group administration of span tasks does not compromise their psychometric characteristics. All the tasks had an adequate internal consistency with Cronbach's αs equal to or above .70; the exception being all types of the symmetry span task absolute scores with α values close to .60. Furthermore, all tasks have satisfactory convergent construct validity as well as criterion validity estimated in relation to measures of fluid intelligence. Omitting the 85% accuracy criterion on the processing component of the span tasks did not impair their psychometric properties. Thus, it is recommended that researchers discard this accuracy criterion as a criterion for filtering the results for further statistical analyses.

In vitro fluoride release from a different kind of conventional and resin modified glass-ionomer cements.

Fluoride release is important characteristic of glass-ionomer cements. Quantity of fluoride ions released from the glass-ionomer cements has major importance in definition of their biological activity. The objectives of this study were to define the quantity of fluoride ions released from the experimental glass-ionomer cements and to define the effect of fluoride ions released from the experimental glass-ionomer cements on their cytotoxicity. Concentrations of the fluoride ions released in the evaluated glass-ionomer cements were measured indirectly, by the fluoride-selective WTW, F500 electrode potential, combined with reference R503/D electrode. Statistical analyses of F-ion concentrations released by all glass-ionomers evaluated at two time points, after 8 and after 24 hours, show statistically higher fluoride releases from RMGICs: Vitrebond, Fuji II LC and Fuji Plus, when compared to conventional glass-ionomer cements: Fuji Triage, Fuji IX GP Fast and Ketac Silver, both after 8 and after 24 hours. Correlation coefficient between concentrations of fluoride ion released by evaluated glass-ionomer cements and cytotoxic response of UMR-106 osteoblast cell-line are relatively high, but do not reach levels of biological significance. Correlation between concentrations of fluoride ion released and cytotoxic response of NIH3T3 mouse fibroblast cell line after 8 hours is high, positive and statistically significant for conventional GICs, Fuji Triage and Fuji IX GP Fast, and RMGIC, Fuji II LC. Statistically significant Correlation coefficient between concentrations of fluoride ion released and cytotoxic response of NIH3T3 cell line after 24 hours is defined for RMGIC Fuji II LC only.

Effectiveness of a school-based group psychotherapy program for war-exposed adolescents: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of a classroom-based psychoeducation and skills intervention (tier 1) and a school-based trauma- and grief-focused group treatment (tier 2) of a three-tiered mental health program for adolescents exposed to severe war-related trauma, traumatic bereavement, and postwar adversity. METHOD: A total of 127 war-exposed and predominantly ethnic Muslim secondary school students attending 10 schools in central Bosnia who reported severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, or maladaptive grief and significant impairment in school or relationships were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. These included either an active-treatment comparison condition (tier 1), consisting of a classroom-based psychoeducation and skills intervention alone (n = 61, 66% girls, mean age 16.0 years, SD 1.13) or a treatment condition composed of both the classroom-based intervention and a 17-session manual-based group therapy intervention (tier 2), trauma and grief component therapy for adolescents (n = 66, 63% girls, mean age 15.9 years, SD 1.11). Both interventions were implemented throughout the school year. Distressed students who were excluded from the study due to acute risk for harm (n = 9) were referred for community-based mental health services (tier 3). RESULTS: Program effectiveness was measured via reductions in symptoms of PTSD, depression, and maladaptive grief assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 4-month follow-up. Analysis of mean-level treatment effects showed significant pre- to posttreatment and posttreatment to 4-month follow-up reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms in both the treatment and comparison conditions. Significant pre- to posttreatment reductions in maladaptive grief reactions were found only in the treatment condition. Analyzed at the individual case level, the percentages of students in the treatment condition who reported significant (p <.05) pre- to posttreatment reductions in PTSD symptoms (58% at posttreatment, 81% at 4-month follow-up) compare favorably to those reported in controlled treatment efficacy trials, whereas the percentages who reported significant reductions in depression symptoms (23% at posttreatment, 61% at follow-up) are comparable to, or higher than, those found in community treatment settings. Lower but substantial percentages of significant symptom reduction were found for PTSD (33% at posttreatment, 48% at follow-up) and depression symptoms (13% at posttreatment; 47% at follow-up) in students in the comparison condition. The odds of significant symptom reduction were higher for PTSD symptoms at both posttreatment and 4-month follow-up and for maladaptive grief at posttreatment (no follow-up was conducted on maladaptive grief). Rates of significantly worsened cases were generally rare in both the treatment and comparison conditions. CONCLUSIONS: A three-tiered, integrative mental health program composed of schoolwide dissemination of psychoeducation and coping skills (tier 1), specialized trauma- and grief-focused intervention for severely traumatized and traumatically bereaved youths (tier 2), and referral of youths at acute risk for community-based mental health services (tier 3) constitutes an effective and efficient method for promoting adolescent recovery in postwar settings.