Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress in cross‐cultural mission assignments

Abstract

In addition to cross-cultural and environmental stressors, aid workers and missionaries are frequently exposed to trauma. We explored the frequency of traumatic events, their mental health impact, and factors associated with posttraumatic stress in two groups of missionaries, one representing a predominantly stable setting (Europe) and the other an unstable setting (West Africa). The 256 participants completed self-report measures assessing lifetime traumatic events, current posttraumatic stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, resilience, and functioning. The rate of traumatic events was significantly higher in the unstable setting. More-frequent traumatic events were associated with higher posttraumatic stress. Factors associated with the severity of posttraumatic stress were depression, functional impairment, subjective severity and number of traumatic events, and the level of resilience.

Prevalence of severe hypokalaemia in patients with traumatic brain injury

“…The maximum potassium infusion rate of 10-20 mmol/h as recommended by most textbooks [33], may not be sufficient in some patients to raise extremely low potassium levels. In our series, the maximum infusion rate was 40 mmol/h over 4 h to raise serum levels from 1.3 to 2.6 mmol/L, which is similar to Schaefer's studies [34]. 86.3% of patients with severe hypokalaemia had hypophosphataemia in our study.…”

Exposure to Violence, Support Needs, Adjustment, and Motivators Among Guatemalan Humanitarian Aid Workers

“…The finding that higher levels of Direct CV exposure are positively related to higher levels of PTSD symptoms among aid workers supports findings from previous studies (Eriksson et al 2001;Schaefer et al 2007), while the finding that Indirect CV was not related to PTSD symptoms is not consistent with previous research (Eriksson et al 2001). This latter finding could be explained by high lifetime exposure to CV creating a ceiling effect where PTSD symptoms cannot get higher with increased exposure.…”

“…Findings provide evidence that Guatemalan aid workers who participated in the study are exposed to high levels of lifetime CV exposure, supporting previous studies that indicate Guatemalan refugees (Sabin et al 2003) and aid workers who serve in settings that have high rates of poverty and crime (Schaefer et al 2007) report relatively high levels of exposure to incidents of CV and traumatic events. Furthermore, the percentage of aid workers reporting symptoms consistent with PTSD is higher than among returned international aid workers from five humanitarian agencies (Eriksson et al 2001) and Guatemalan refugees in camps in Mexico (Sabin et al 2003).…”

“…Evidence suggests that aid workers who serve in countries that have high rates of poverty and crime are exposed to higher numbers of traumatic events than workers who serve in areas that are more stable (Schaefer et al 2007). In addition to direct violence, aid workers are also often indirectly exposed to trauma through witnessing and hearing about violence inflicted upon those they serve (Eriksson et al 2001).…”

“…For aid workers in Africa and Europe, higher numbers of traumatic events relate to increased PTSD symptoms (Schaefer et al 2007). Furthermore, while one study suggests that exposure to critical incidents is related to emotional exhaustion (EE) among ambulance personnel (Alexander and Klein 2001), heretofore there has been little evidence to show how burnout levels may be related to PTSD symptoms.…”