Neurofeedback is an innovative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is readily accessible to mental health therapists. As a widespread mental health concern with potentially devastating long-term consequences on psychosocial functioning, PTSD can also adversely impact biophysiological processes, particularly those related to the brain. Neurofeedback has shown promise in alleviating overall PTSD symptoms, including these underlying neurobiological consequences. Successful results have been found among clients with PTSD who have not been responsive to prior treatment modalities. While a strong base of clinical anecdotes and case studies supports its success in treating PTSD, intervention studies on neurofeedback have been critiqued for lack of rigor and poor methodological design. A current systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of neurofeedback in treating PTSD was conducted. Unlike prior reviews which emphasized neurobiological changes, this study was written for the mental health therapist and focused solely on behavioral outcomes. Ten studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Neurofeedback demonstrated salubrious results in at least one outcome measure for the majority of participants across all studies. Interpretations, however, are limited by wide discrepancies in sample sizes, study designs, outcome measures, and the extent of reported results. Future research in this area would benefit from prioritizing randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes and longitudinal follow-up results.

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Insufficient care in the perinatal period is associated with poorer maternal health, poorer perinatal outcomes, infant mortality, and health inequalities. Identifying the sources of and reducing the rates of insufficient care is therefore a major clinical and public health objective. We propose a specific application of the biopsychosocial model that conceptualizes prenatal and postpartum care quality as health markers that are influenced by psychological factors and family and social context. Clinic attendance data were abstracted from the electronic medical records of N = 291 participants enrolled in a longitudinal pregnancy cohort study of healthy women who have been followed since the first trimester; the Kotelchuck Index (KI) was calculated as an index of perinatal care utilization. Detailed prenatal psychological, social, and sociodemographic data were collected from self-report questionnaire and interview. Bivariate analyses indicated socio-demographic (e.g., race), psychological (e.g., response to perceived racism, affective symptoms, trauma experience), and social and family context (e.g., social support, family size) significantly influenced pre- and post-natal care utilization. Multivariate logistic regression analyses, adjusting for medical complications, identified social and family context as robust predictors of perinatal care utilization. The findings underscore the need for biopsychosocial models of health care and highlight several potential strategies for improving health care utilization.

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