Search

Background The aim of the study was to assess levels of somatic and mental health distress, well-being, AS WELL AS utilization of primary and specialist health care services among war-related widowed and non-widowed female civilian survivors of war. Methods 100 war-related widowed lone mothers and 106 non-widowed mothers who had experienced the Kosovo war ten years previously participated in the study. Measures of somatic, depressive, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and grief complaints, subjective well-being, and utilization of health care services during the previous three months were used. Results Compared to non-widowed mothers, widowed lone mothers reported significantly higher levels of somatic, depressive, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety complaints. Further, they reported significantly lower levels of subjective well-being as composed of positive and negative affect and satisfaction with life. More than half of both widowed and non-widowed mothers reported utilization of health care services during the last three months, without significant differences between the groups. However, only three percent of widowed lone mothers and four percent of non-bereaved mothers reported utilization of mental health services during the last three months, despite high levels of mental health distress especially among widowed lone mothers. Among widowed lone mothers, severity of prolonged grief symptoms significantly predicted number of contacts of specialist health care use over and above sociodemographic variables, number of war-related events, and other psychopathology. Conclusion War-related widowed lone mothers suffer from elevated somatic and mental distress even a decade after the war. The tiny proportion of widowed lone mothers in use of mental health services can be seen as a reflection of lack of previous and current mental health services to meet mental health needs of this population.

Background Research has shown that treatments that solely addressed intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration were not very effective in reducing IPV, possibly due to neglecting individual differences between IPV perpetrators. A large proportion of IPV perpetrators is diagnosed with co-occurring substance use disorders and it has been demonstrated that successful treatment of alcohol dependence among alcohol dependent IPV perpetrators also led to less IPV. The current study investigated the relative effectiveness of Integrated treatment for Substance abuse and Partner violence (I-StoP) to cognitive behavioral treatment addressing substance use disorders including only one session addressing partner violence (CBT-SUD+) among patients in substance abuse treatment who repeatedly committed IPV. Substance use and IPV perpetration were primary outcome measures. Method Patients who entered substance abuse treatment were screened for IPV. Patients who disclosed at least 7 acts of physical IPV in the past year (N = 52) were randomly assigned to either I-StoP or CBT-SUD+. Patients in both conditions received 16 treatment sessions. Substance use and IPV perpetration were assessed at pretreatment, halfway treatment and posttreatment in blocks of 8 weeks. Both completers and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses were performed. Results Patients (completers and ITT) in both conditions significantly improved regarding substance use and IPV perpetration at posttreatment compared with pretreatment. There were no differences in outcome between conditions. Completers in both conditions almost fully abstained from IPV in 8 weeks before the end of treatment. Conclusions Both I-StoP and CBT-SUD+ were effective in reducing substance use and IPV perpetration among patients in substance abuse treatment who repeatedly committed IPV and self-disclosed IPV perpetration. Since it is more cost and time-effective to implement CBT-SUD+ than I-StoP, it is suggested to treat IPV perpetrators in substance abuse treatment with CBT-SUD+. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00847873

Background: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated the effectiveness of a combined treatment for co-morbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and severe Substance Use Disorder (SUD).Methods: Structured Writing Therapy for PTSD (SWT), an evidence-based traumafocused intervention, was added on to Treatment As Usual (TAU), consisting of an intensive cognitive behavioral inpatient or day group treatment for SUD. The outcomes of the combined treatment (TAU + SWT) were compared to TAU alone in a sample of 34 patients.Results: Results showed a general reduction of SUD symptoms for both TAU + SWT and TAU. Treatment superiority of TAU + SWT was neither confirmed by interaction effects (time x condition) for SUD or PTSD symptoms, nor by a group difference for SUD diagnostic status at post-treatment. However, planned contrasts revealed that improvements for PTSD severity over time were only significant within the TAU + SWT group. In addition, within the TAU + SWT group the remission of PTSD diagnoses after treatment was significant, which was not the case for TAU. Finally, at post-treatment a trend was noticed for between group differences for the number of PTSD diagnoses favoring TAU + SWT above TAU.Conclusions: In sum, the current study provides preliminary evidence that adding a trauma-focused treatment on to standard SUD treatment may be beneficial.