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"Die Untersuchung der psychischen Folgen politischer Inhaftierung hat durch ihre Einbettung in das international gebräuchliche Diagnosekonzept der Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung eine tragfähige wissenschaftliche Basis erhalten. Diagnostische Interviews einer Dresdener Untersuchung mit 61 in der DDR in den Jahren 1949 bis 1989 aus politischen Gründen Inhaftierten ergaben, daß bei zirka einem Fünftel der Untersuchungsteilnehmer aktuell das Störungsbild der Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung vorliegt. Die davon Betroffenen sind stark in ihrem psychischen Wohlergehen sowie in ihren täglichen Lebensvollzügen beeinträchtigt, obwohl die Inhaftierungszeit durchschnittlich 30 Jahre zurückliegt. Das Forschungsprojekt ist darüber hinaus einer Reihe von Ereignisfaktoren und psychologischen Variablen gewidmet, die Einfluß auf das Ausmaß der Folgestörungen haben. Neben den Haftbedingungen sind dies u.a. die Fähigkeit zur individuellen Sinnfindung (Kohärenzsinn), die zwischenmenschliche (soziale) Unterstützung und die Wohnortwahl (DDR oder Westdeutschland) nach der Haftentlassung. Insbesondere scheint sich die Fähigkeit zur Sinnfindung als eine psychologische Schutzvariable vor den Symptomen der Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung zu erweisen. Abschließend wird auf die Implikationen der Untersuchung von Haftfolgeschäden eingeangen. Dabei geht es zum einen um die Aufklärung der Öffentlichkeit über die psychischen Folgen von Gewalt und Unrecht. Zum anderen sind medizinische Gutachter und Vertreter anderer Sozialberufe die Zielgruppen der Ergebnisse der Untersuchung, da sie auf die spezifischen psychischen Probleme der Geschädigten nicht selten mit Unverständnis reagieren." (Autorenreferat)

In Euro-American societies, "resilience" and "post-traumatic growth" are commonly used metaphorical terms for positive responses to extreme adversity. However, research on illness narratives has demonstrated that other cultures may have different metaphorical concepts that act as vehicles for shared beliefs about how to overcome extreme adversity or traumatic experiences. The purpose of this article is to identify metaphors used in various cultures to describe positive responses to extreme adversity and to discuss the cultural ontologies and other socio-cultural factors that shape them. Metaphors of this nature were extracted from psychological, anthropological and ethnographic studies and were organized into categories: battle, path, container, balance, weight, object and network metaphors. Findings support the notion that metaphorical expressions related to positive responses to extreme adversity vary widely across cultures. We argue that an understanding of cultural differences in metaphors for mental health-related concepts is crucial to assisting trauma survivors from different cultural backgrounds.

Trauma victims are often a focus of media attention. However, little is known about the psychological effects that media coverage of their cases can have on the victims themselves. Two contradictory hypotheses exist: One is that media reports lead to retraumatization of victims and may impede recovery, the other that media reports provide social recognition for victims and, thus, constitute a positive form of support that may facilitate recovery. We used a longitudinal group comparison design, and assessed a sample of crime victims at around 5 and 11 months after trauma. Participants were crime victims recruited through a legal aid organization. Data were gathered by checklists and standardized self-reports. Forty-seven percent of the participants had read, listened to or watched at least one media report on their case. Of these, almost two thirds stated that the reports were more or less accurate. Nonetheless, the dominant psychological reaction to the reports was negative (sad 66%, frightened 48%), and few participants expressed positive reactions. Reactions were significantly more negative when the content of the report was not considered to be accurate. Some evidence was found for the theoretical assumption of retraumatization by media reports: There was a moderate correlation (r = 0.48) between negative reaction to the trauma reports and the level of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at baseline assessment. Coverage in a media report did not predict PTSD symptoms at follow-up. In conclusion, the association between the level of PTSD symptoms and negative psychological reactions to media coverage indicates that media representatives should take particular care when dealing with the most strongly traumatized survivors.

Cross-national epidemiological studies show that prevalence rates of common mental disorders (i.e. depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD) vary considerably between countries, suggesting cultural differences. In order to gather evidence on how culture relates to the aetiology and phenomenology of mental disorders, finding meaningful empirical instruments for capturing the latent (i.e. non-visible) construct of 'culture' is vital. In this review, we suggest using value orientations for this purpose. We focus on Schwartz's value theory, which includes two levels of values: cultural and personal. We identified nine studies on personal values and four studies on cultural values and their relationship with common mental disorders. This relationship was assessed among very heterogeneous cultural groups; however, no consistent correlational pattern occurred. The most compelling evidence suggests that the relationship between personal values and mental disorders is moderated by the cultural context. Hence, assessing mere correlations between personal value orientations and self-reported symptoms of psychopathology, without taking into account the cultural context, does not yield meaningful results. This theoretical review reveals important research gaps: Most studies aimed to explain how values relate to the aetiology of mental disorders, whereas the question of phenomenology was largely neglected. Moreover, all included studies used Western instruments for assessing mental disorders, which may not capture culturally-specific phenomena of mental distress. Finding systematic relationships between values and mental disorders may contribute to making more informed hypotheses about how psychopathology is expressed under different cultural circumstances, and how to culturally adapt psychological interventions.