The present study sought to examine the current mental representations of early attachment relationships in 24 psychopathic criminal offenders, incarcerated in a forensic psychiatric hospital or a medium-security prison. The participants had been assessed on Hare's Psychopathy Checklist, Revised: Screening Version (PCL-R, sv, 1997) and scored either high or low. They were interviewed with the Main and Goldwyn Adult Attachment Interview (1998) and completed the EMBU, a Swedish self-report questionnaire tapping memories of the parent's rearing techniques. The results pointed to an extensive over-representation of individuals who were dismissing of attachment and attachment-related experiences (close to three times as many as in the normal population), no secure individuals, and with the remainder being either unclassifiable or unresolved with regard to severe early abuse/trauma. In addition, an examination of the EMBU data revealed an association between a higher psychopathy score and a family constellation of a rejecting father and an emotionally very warm (idealized) mother. The discussion will focus on the unique discourse of the dismissing individuals and on clinical implications.

Background: During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the people in Europe are exposed to self-isolation, quarantine, job loss, risk of contracting COVID-19, or grief of loved ones. Such a complex array of stressors may lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder. This research protocol describes a study launched by the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on symptoms of adjustment disorder across European countries. Objective: The longitudinal online cohort study aims (1) to explore psychosocial reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic across ten European countries; (2) to examine the relationships between risk and resilience factors, stressors and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the pandemic; and (3) to investigate whether these relationships are moderated by coping behaviours. Method: In ten countries

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic exposes individuals to multiple stressors, such as quarantine, physical distancing, job loss, risk of infection, and loss of loved ones. Such a complex array of stressors potentially lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder. Objective: This cross-sectional exploratory study examined relationships between risk and protective factors, stressors, and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data from the first wave of the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) longitudinal ADJUST Study were used. N = 15,563 participants aged 18 years and above were recruited in eleven countries (Austria,

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in Europe and globally. The pandemic affects both individuals and the broader society across many domains, including physical and psychological health, the economy and general welfare. The measures taken to counteract the pandemic have significantly altered daily life and, along with the threat of contracting the coronavirus and uncertainties surrounding future developments, created a complex system of stressors with a negative impact on public mental health. This paper aims to outline the ESTSS strategy to address mental health issues related to COVID-19 and focuses on (1) trauma-informed policies, (2) capacity building, (3) collaborative research and (4) knowledge-exchange. To facilitate implementation of a traumainformed approach and appropriate measures, ESTSS has developed a toolkit of recommendations on mental health and psychosocial assistance to be provided during the different phases of crisis and its aftermath. To promote capacity building, ESTSS offers a certification programme based on a curriculum in psychotraumatology and corresponding on-line training to the European community of mental health professionals. To assure evidencebased approaches and methods tailored to current circumstances, ESTSS has initiated a pan-European research project with international cooperation aimed at studying the mental health consequences of the pandemic, with a focus on psychological trauma and other stress-related reactions. To foster knowledge-exchange, the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT), the official journal of ESTSS, is publishing a special issue on COVID-19. Respuestas basadas en el trauma para abordar las consecuencias en la salud mental pública de la pandemia COVID-19: Artículo de Postura de la Sociedad Europea para Estudios del Estrés Traumático (ESTSS)

Credibility clusters, preferences, and helpfulness beliefs 2 Background: There is some evidence that the perceived credibility of specific forms of psychotherapy, beliefs about helpful and not-so-helpful interventions, and differential treatment preferences may influence both therapeutic alliance and outcome, at least in the short-term. The present study explored whether distinct clusters exist, based on credibility ratings, and how these may be related to treatment preferences and beliefs about the helpfulness of specific interventions.Method: Written descriptions of psychodynamic (PDT), cognitive (CT) and cognitivebehavioural (CBT) psychotherapy were rated by a random community sample with the "normal" level of psychiatric treatment (n = 121), psychiatric outpatients with limited previous experience of psychiatric care (n = 118), and a group of psychiatric "veterans" with long experience of psychiatric care (n = 48). Participants completed a questionnaire focusing on beliefs about the helpfulness of specific therapy components, rated the credibility of each form of psychotherapy, and ranked the alternatives in terms of preferences..Results: Using cluster analysis six distinct groups of participants were delineated. Some approached psychotherapy in an undifferentiated manner, tending to either embrace all or reject all of the methods examined. Others had differentiated ideas about the credibility of specific therapeutic approaches. These clusters were strongly associated with differential treatment preferences. They were also associated with helpfulness beliefs, previous experiences with psychotherapy, gender, and age.Conclusions: For clinicians it may be important to investigate the differential appeal of specific components of psychotherapy as well as entire therapy packages in individual cases prior to commencing therapy. For researchers it may be important to consider whether outcome studies would become more informative by taking patients' beliefs and preferences into account.Credibility clusters, preferences, and helpfulness beliefs 3 Credibility, preferences, and helpfulness beliefs for specific kinds of psychotherapy Given the placebo potential implied, the credibility of a treatment to an individual patient, his or her expectations and hopes with that treatment, his or her preferences for it, and his or her beliefs about what might be beneficial in a treatment should be an important group of common factors to explore in relation to therapeutic alliance and outcome. One problem about this group of concepts is the definitional confusion among them (Grantham & Gordon, 1986).Thus, for example, terms like acceptability, predilection, credibility, perceived helpfulness, outcome expectations, and preferences have all been used in research that, superficially at least, seems to deal more or less with the same phenomenon, whether a person or a patient believes a certain treatment is the most reasonable or suitable option for him or her and would choose accordingly if given a choice. And it is probable-and has b...