Achtergrond Wereldwijd zijn er 89,3 miljoen mensen gedwongen op de vlucht. De prevalentie van mentale ziektes zoals post-traumatische stressstoornis (PTSS), depressie en angst is hoger bij...Show moreAchtergrond Wereldwijd zijn er 89,3 miljoen mensen gedwongen op de vlucht. De prevalentie van mentale ziektes zoals post-traumatische stressstoornis (PTSS), depressie en angst is hoger bij vluchtelingen dan bij mensen die niet op de vlucht zijn. Er zijn verschillende behandelmethoden ontwikkelt die proberen de mate van PTSS, depressie en angst te verminderen, zoals cognitieve gedragstherapie (CGT), narrative exposure therapie (NET) of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Door culturele overtuigingen kunnen symptomen van mentale ziektes en denkbeelden over behandelmethoden verschillen tussen culturen. Het doel van deze systematische review is om door middel van een meta-analyse te achterhalen of er verschil is in de effectiviteit van psychosociale behandelmethoden voor PTSS, depressie en angst bij westerse versus niet westerse vluchtelingen. Resultaten Psychosociale behandelmethoden hebben een significant verlagend effect op de mate van PTSS, depressie en angst bij vluchtelingen. Voor PTSS is dit effect z = -13.883, p < .001, voor depressie is dit effect z = -9.062, p < .001 en voor angst is dit effect z = -9.375, p < .001. Er is geen significant verschil gevonden tussen de effectiviteit van behandelmethoden voor PTSS, depressie en angst voor westerse versus niet-westerse vluchtelingen. Conclusie De meta-analyse toont aan dat de psychosociale behandelmethoden de mate van PTSS, depressie en angst significant verminderen bij vluchtelingen. Er zijn geen significante verschillen in effectiviteit van de behandelmethoden tussen westerse versus niet-westerse vluchtelingen gevonden waaruit geconcludeerd kan worden dat de behandelmethoden voor alle vluchtelingen even goed inzetbaar zijn.Show less
Background: Stress, isolation and unemployment caused by the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines are believed to greatly impact mental health and substance use habits. Our aim was to...Show moreBackground: Stress, isolation and unemployment caused by the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines are believed to greatly impact mental health and substance use habits. Our aim was to investigate the relation of COVID-19 with cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine use. Method: Systematic review and meta-analyses. Databases were searched until April 2nd 2021 Results: For cannabis use, two analyses were performed based on the type of data. An increase in the number of cannabis users was found during COVID-19 (k = 8, N = 4814, Z = 2.12, p = 0.034). No difference was found in the amount of cannabis used at the two different time points (k = 5, N = 1165, p = 0.110). There were no significant changes found in hard drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic relative to before its restrictions; cocaine (k = 10, N = 1193293, p = 0.121), amphetamine (k = 3, N = 387973, p = 0.982), fentanyl (k = 3, N = 1189864, p = 0.065), heroin (k = 4, N = 1138243, p = 0.438) and methamphetamine (k = 5, N = 387973, p = 0.134). Conclusion: There is evidence that COVID-19 is associated with a small increase in the number of cannabis users. We found no evidence for an increase in the amount of cannabis used or the number of hard drug users before and during COVID-19. Consequently, in the clinical field of psychology, it might be better to invest more (of the limited) resources in alleviating mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, feelings of isolation and stress as opposed to problems with substance (ab)use, which showed to be less reactive than initially imagined.Show less
Refugees form a population with a high prevalence of psychological disorders relative to non-refugee populations (WHO, 2021). It has been suggested that cultural adaptation of psychological...Show moreRefugees form a population with a high prevalence of psychological disorders relative to non-refugee populations (WHO, 2021). It has been suggested that cultural adaptation of psychological treatments can help to optimise the effectiveness of treatments for refugees, but there is a lack of clear research on this topic. The current work addresses this by investigating the following research question: Are culturally adapted psychological treatments more effective than non-adapted treatments in reducing symptoms of PTSD, depression and anxiety in refugees? It is hypothesized that culturally adapted treatments are more effective than non-adapted treatments. The research question is explored by performing a meta-analysis of treatment effects from a selection of studies. Results from the meta-analysis show significant treatment effects of culturally adapted treatments and non-adapted treatments for PTSD, depression and anxiety. However, no significant differences in treatment effects were found between culturally adapted treatments and non-adapted treatments. Therefore, the conclusion is that culturally adapted treatments for PTSD, depression and anxiety are not more effective for refugees than non-adapted treatments. The main implication of this is that it might not be necessary for clinicians and researchers to invest in cultural adaptation of psychological treatments.Show less
