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This study examined the contribution of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and symptomatology to the difficulties of anger, aggression, and self-harm in a Northern Ireland clinical community sample. A "current complex PTSD" (CCPTSD) group (n=11) was compared with a "current PTSD" group (n=31) on self-report measures of these variables. The CCPTSD group demonstrated significantly higher levels of physical aggression and self-harm than the PTSD group. The complex PTSD symptom of 'alterations in self-perception' was a significant predictor of aggression and history of self-harm, suggesting the potential role of posttraumatic shame and self-loathing in PTSD theoretical models of these destructive behaviors. Social desirability was a notable confounding influence in the assessment of anger, aggression, and self-harm in traumatised individuals.

Impulsive verbal aggression and anger are the principal aggressive traits after brain injury. Physical aggression may present in extreme cases after TBI, but appears less prominent overall in this population. Social desirability, previously overlooked in research examining TBI aggression, emerged as an influential variable that should be considered in future TBI research.

Background Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health and social care workers have faced unprecedented professional demands, all of which are likely to have placed considerable strain on their psychological well-being. Aims To measure the national prevalence of mental health symptoms within healthcare staff, and identify individual and organisational predictors of well-being. Method The COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Survey is a longitudinal online survey of psychological well-being among health and social care staff in Northern Ireland. The survey included four time points separated by 3-month intervals; time 1 (November 2020; n = 3834) and time 2 (February 2021; n = 2898) results are presented here. At time 2, 84% of respondents had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The survey included four validated psychological well-being questionnaires (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and insomnia), as well as demographic and organisational measures. Results At time 1 and 2, a high proportion of staff reported moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression (30–36%), anxiety (26–27%), post-traumatic stress (30–32%) and insomnia (27–28%); overall, significance tests and effect size data suggested psychological well-being was generally stable between November 2020 and February 2021 for health and social care staff. Multiple linear regression models indicated that perceptions of less effective communication within their organisation predicted greater levels of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and insomnia. Conclusions This study highlights the need to offer psychological support to all health and social care staff, and to communicate with staff regularly, frequently and clearly regarding COVID-19 to help protect staff psychological well-being.

Cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) place an emphasis on the role of negative appraisals of traumatic events. It is suggested that the way in which the event is appraised determines the extent to which posttraumatic stress symptoms will be experienced. Therefore, a strong relationship between trauma appraisals and symptoms of PTSD might be expected. However, this relationship is not as firmly established in the child and adolescent literature. A systematic literature review of this relationship returned 467 publications, of which 11 met full eligibility criteria. A random effects meta-analysis revealed a large effect size for the relationship between appraisals and PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents, r = .63, 95% CI [.58, .68], Z = 17.32, p < .001, with significant heterogeneity present. A sensitivity analysis suggested that this relationship was not contingent on 1 specific measure of appraisals. Results were consistent with the cognitive behavioral theory of PTSD, demonstrating that appraisals of trauma are strongly related to posttraumatic stress in children and adolescents. However, this relationship was not observed in a sample of 4- to 6-year-olds, indicating that further research is required to explicate cognitive processing of trauma in very young children.

This study examined levels of mathematics and statistics anxiety, as well as general mental health amongst undergraduate students with dyslexia (n = 28) and those without dyslexia (n = 71). Students with dyslexia had higher levels of mathematics anxiety relative to those without dyslexia, while statistics anxiety and general mental health were comparable for both reading ability groups. In terms of coping strategies, undergraduates with dyslexia tended to use planning-based strategies and seek instrumental support more frequently than those without dyslexia. Higher mathematics anxiety was associated with having a dyslexia diagnosis, as well as greater levels of worrying, denial, seeking instrumental support and less use of the positive reinterpretation coping strategy. By contrast, statistics anxiety was not predicted by dyslexia diagnosis, but was instead predicted by overall worrying and the use of denial and emotion focused coping strategies. The results suggest that disability practitioners should be aware that university students with dyslexia are at risk of high mathematics anxiety. Additionally, effective anxiety reduction strategies such as positive reframing and thought challenging would form a useful addition to the support package delivered to many students with dyslexia.

These findings have implications for the theoretical role of shame in mental health presentations as well as the potential for internalizing shame coping styles (i.e., withdrawal, attack self) to act as a barrier to successful therapy and interpersonal relationships. The inclusion of shame-focused assessments and interventions in the initial stages of treatment with clients exhibiting these strategies could improve prognosis.

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