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Introduction: In the current study, we assessed self-reported and behavioral measures of support provided to others and examined their longitudinal relationship to grief and depression symptoms. Methods: Hierarchical regressions that controlled for initial grief symptoms and support received from others indicated that providing support to others during bereavement had negative effects on psychological functioning, especially for those experiencing high levels of grief at the time of giving. Results: Across all participants, those who reported providing instrumental support to others at T1 tended to have greater depression symptoms at T2. Furthermore, choosing to donate to bereavement organizations in a laboratory experiment predicted higher levels of grief symptoms at T2, but primarily for participants experiencing high levels of grief at T1. Conclusion: Additional research is needed to replicate and extend these findings. and determine why helping others during periods of transition and loss may increase one's risk for depression and/or grief.

In the aftermath of the war in northern Uganda, former soldiers from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) face many challenges reintegrating into their communities. Former LRA soldiers often return home with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which may exacerbate the social stigma of being in the LRA. Health professional and lay community members’ ( N = 119) attitudes toward former LRA soldiers with symptoms of PTSD were examined and compared with attitudes toward civilian victims with the same symptoms, both depicted in vignettes. It was hypothesized that there would be a greater negative bias toward former soldiers due to the dual stigma of involvement with the LRA and mental illness, particularly among lay participants who lacked education regarding the prognoses and treatment of the mentally ill. Contrary to our hypotheses, there was no significant difference in participants’ attitudes toward the vignettes of LRA soldiers and civilian victims. Lay participants were less stigmatizing than health professionals and trainees on both measures of stigma: social distance and skill assessment. These findings suggest that the relationship between health education and stigma is complex in Uganda and different from what is found in most western research. Implications for research, treatment, and reintegration are discussed as Uganda moves forward.

Objective: Human rights advocates investigate, document, and combat abuses of individuals and groups around the world and are routinely exposed to events that can be seen as potentially morally injurious. However, few studies have examined the unique risk factors for poor mental health outcomes among this population, and none has explored the impact of moral injury, which is particularly germane given the relevance of this concept arising from the occupational exposure to morally injurious events inherent to human rights work. Method: To address this deficit, we first conducted an exploratory factor analysis on a set of questions about moral injury that had previously been administered to a sample of human rights advocates. Based on this analysis, we modified and reduced these items and identified two constituent subscales. Next, we collected data on a new sample to replicate the factor structure of the reduced scale and to validate the subscales. Finally, we examined the relationship between the two subscales of the reduced moral injury scale and related concepts including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-efficacy, and perfectionism in the original sample of human rights advocates. Results: As predicted, moral injury was associated with PTSD symptom severity and, independently, with self-efficacy and perfectionism. Conclusions: The findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating the application of moral injury to civilian populations, particularly those systematically exposed to PMIEs who engage in work to address injustice and violence. Clinical Impact StatementWe believe this article is an important addition to the human rights field and study of moral injury. Our findings indicate that moral injury is a relevant concept for this population and may help us understand the factors contributing to mental health outcomes. This may have specific implications for evidence-based interventions that are used among this population.