Contrary to specific phobias, for which Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) constitutes an effective treatment, uncertainty still exists regarding the usefulness of VRET for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, this meta-analysis investigated the efficacy of VRET for PTSD as compared to waitlist and active comparators. A literature search yielded nine controlled studies encompassing 296 participants (124 VRET, 172 controls). The differences between conditions regarding the primary outcome of PTSD symptom severity and the secondary outcome of depressive and anxiety symptoms post-treatment were calculated using Hedges' g. Compared to waitlist controls, VRET showed a significantly better outcome for PTSD symptoms (g = 0.62, p = .017) and depressive symptoms (g = 0.50, p = .008). There was no significant difference between VRET and active comparators regarding PTSD symptoms (g = 0.25, p = .356) and depressive symptoms (g = 0.24, p = .340) post-treatment. No significant effects emerged for anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that VRET may be as effective as active comparators for PTSD patients. However, the results must be interpreted with caution due to the limited number of trials and the substantial number ofpredominantly malemilitary service members studied. Additional controlled trials, considering a wider range of trauma types and balanced gender, are required to strengthen the evidence.重程度的差异，以及抑郁和焦虑症状的差异。与等候名单对照组相比，VRET显示出PTSD 症状(g = 0.62，p = .017)和抑郁症状(g = 0.50，p = .008)的显著更好的结果。 VRET 和有效对照疗法之间在治疗后PTSD症状(g = 0.25，p = .356)和抑郁症状(g = 0.24，p = .340)上没有显著差异。对焦虑症状没有显著效果。这些发现表明，VRET可能与PTSD患 者的有效对照疗法一样有效。但是，因为纳入试验数量有限，并且研究了大量以男性为 主的军事服务人员，必须谨慎解释研究结果。需要进一步的对照试验以加强证据，未来 的研究需要考虑更广泛的创伤类型和对参与者性别进行平衡。 ORCID Oswald D. Kothgassner http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3243-0238 Andreas Goreis http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8994-964X Johanna X. Kafka http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3404-3546 Rahel L. Van Eickels http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7461-2929 Paul L. Plener

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator between experiences of COVID-19 psychological distress and relationship quality. To examine these associations, self-report data from 14,020 people across 27 countries were collected during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (March–July, 2020). It was hypothesized that higher symptoms of psychological distress would be reported post-COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 restrictions (Hypothesis 1), reports of post-COVID-19 psychological distress would be negatively associated with relationship quality (Hypothesis 2), and perceived partner DC would moderate these associations (Hypothesis 3). While hypotheses were generally supported, results also showed interesting between-country variability. Limitations and future directions are presented.

Objective Parenting during pandemic restrictions places extreme demands on everyday family life, leading to increased stress levels for parents and distressed parent-child interactions. This RCT aimed to investigate whether cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion are helpful emotion regulation (ER) strategies to reduce individual and parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method An online intervention for parents was developed focusing on the application of ER strategies to pandemic requirements of families. A sample of 265 parents were randomly assigned to either cognitive reappraisal (CR; n = 88), self-compassion (SC; n = 90) or wait-list control (WLC; n = 87) group. Interventions included two video sessions (day 1 and day 3) and three email reminders to transfer the application of ER strategies to daily family life (days 2, 4, 5). Parents' perceived individual stress and parental stress were assessed at baseline (T0), at T1 prior to the booster session on day 3, and at T2 (7 days after baseline). Results Significant decreases from T0 to T2 emerged for both primary stress outcomes in both intervention groups. Individual stress significantly decreased in CR compared to WLC at T2, but not compared to SC. No time × group interactions for parental stress were found. However, mediation analyses suggested that parental stress was indirectly decreased via reductions in individual stress for CR compared to WLC at both time points. Conclusions COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic to affect family life. Cognitive reappraisal as a brief online intervention can ease acute stress and strengthen the mental health of parents in acute crises.

ObjectiveThe family remains one of the most important relationship systems into early adulthood and provides an important foundation for lifelong mental health. Dysfunctional family cohesion can promote adjustment problems in adolescents and might also affect adolescents’ self-concept and strategies for coping with emotional distress. To test these relationships and the underlying mechanisms, we proposed a dual mediation model describing the associations between family cohesion and internalizing and externalizing problems, mediated by shame-proneness and expressive suppression.MethodsA sample of 526 German-speaking adolescents aged 14 to 18 years from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland participated in an online self-report survey encompassing questionnaires on family cohesion, shame-proneness, expressive suppression, and psychological problems. We tested a path model to examine the indirect pathways of the associations between family cohesion and internalizing and externalizing problems via shame-proneness and expressive suppression, while controlling for age, gender, and guilt-proneness.ResultsWe found a significant dual mediation of the associations between family cohesion and internalizing and externalizing problems by shame-proneness and expressive suppression. The indirect pathways were all significant, except for the indirect pathway from family cohesion to externalizing problems via shame-proneness.DiscussionOur results provide a model for the mechanisms by which disrupted family cohesion can be related to psychological problems in adolescents. Expressive suppression emerged as crucial when considering the consequences of shame-proneness in adolescents, as it was only indirectly related to externalizing problems via expressive suppression.

Objective. Parenting during pandemic restrictions places extreme demands on everyday family life, leading to increased stress levels for parents and distressed parent-child interactions. The goal of this RCT study was to investigate whether cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion are helpful emotion regulation (ER) strategies to reduce individual and parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.Method. An online intervention for parents was developed focusing on the application of ER strategies to pandemic requirements of families. N = 265 participants were randomly assigned to either cognitive reappraisal (CR; n = 88), self-compassion (SC; n = 90) or wait-list control (WLC; n = 87) group. Interventions included two video sessions (day 1 and day 3) and three email reminders to transfer the application of ER strategies to daily family life (days 2, 4, 5). Parents’ perceived individual stress and parental stress were assessed at baseline (T0), at T1 prior to the booster session, and at T2 (7 days after baseline).Results. Significant decreases from T0 to T2 emerged for both primary stress outcomes in both intervention groups. Individual stress significantly decreased in CR compared to WLC at T2. No time × group interactions for parental stress were found. However, mediation analyses suggested that parental stress was indirectly decreased via reductions in individual stress for CR compared to WLC at both time points.Conclusions. COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic to affect family life. Cognitive reappraisal as brief online intervention can ease acute stress and strengthen the mental health of parents in acute crises.