No abstract

Increasingly, humanitarian aid personnel are exposed to both vicarious and primary traumatic events. The Post-mission Altruistic Identity Disruption Questionnaire (PostAID/Q) was developed with the aim of guiding humanitarian organizations in the psychosocial aftercare of personnel and their reintegration within families, the workplace and society. Altruistic Identity Disruption refers to interrelated feelings of doubt, isolation, and selfblame in response to perceived invalidation of their humanitarian role. As such it is concerned with reintegration difficulties experienced by returnees from humanitarian work following exposure to adverse events. The PostAID/Q is an 18-item self-report measure designed to assess Altruistic Identity Disruption. Sixty-one aid personnel completed an initial pool of 79-items developed by the authors from semi-structured interviews with aid personnel. Following inspection of item frequencies, 36 items were retained and subject to exploratory principal components analysis which provided evidence of a strong one-factor model. Finally, 18-items were selected to compose the PostAID/Q. The Post Altruistic Identity Disruption Questionnaire (PostAID/Q) promises to be useful to humanitarian organizations in the post-mission psychosocial assessment of returnees and subsequent readiness for redeployment.

Head and neck cancer is associated with multiple layers of distress including stigma. Stigma attraction or devalued social identity is twofold: (1) it is a cancer associated with lifestyle risk factors and (2) treatment often results in confronting facial disfigurement. Subjective interpretations from nine head and neck cancer patients were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. An overarching superordinate theme--Distress, Stigma and Psychological Growth--encompassed four subordinate themes. Two themes captured the expressed trauma and terror as a result of diagnosis and treatment, and two the redefining of self despite stigma through meaning making. Distress was interpreted as a catalyst for awakening new life interpretations and combined with social support to facilitate two distinct pathways of growth: (1) psychological growth without support; (2) psychological and relational growth with support. Previously unfelt empathetic understanding and altruism for others with cancer emerged from the impact of stigma on 'self'. Acceptance allowed a new sense of identity that recognised cancer-related traumatic distress as integral to growth for these participants. The present study offers a unique insight into cancer-related trauma and stigma and the potential to redefine a more accepting, empathic and altruistic 'self' for psychological growth. Implications are discussed.

There is a paucity of research into the positive and negative intergenerational psychological effects of war-related trauma, particularly from a child's perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to shed light on both positive and negative experiences of growing up in a family where one parent is traumatized by war. It explored the subjective "lived" experience of three sisters whose father, a Vietnam War veteran, was diagnosed with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) data from semistructured interviews were analyzed. One overarching theme emerged: making meaning of dual complex trauma. This encapsulated four superordinate themes: betrayal and neglect; like father, like daughter; fragile intimate self; and growthful forgiveness and self-care. Implications for therapeutic intervention with intergenerational trauma are discussed.

This case study explores the interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences of a single individual who spent more than 35 years in humanitarian aid work. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, one superordinate theme, altruistic identity (AI), emerges. On return home following a humanitarian mission, AI requires (a) strong perception of empathic validation for intimate reintegration and (b) self-acceptance of personal involvement. However, AI disruption is related to (a) a perception of rejection or weak empathic validation for intimate reintegration and (b) self-blame leading to isolation from intimate others. With AI disruption, validation is alternately sought from humanitarian colleagues and/or by returning to the field. Results suggest that postmission reintegration processes are important determinants of psychological well-being. The authors also discuss the organization's role in addressing the psychosocial care of their staff on return from mission to reduce long-term social disruption and psychological distress.