Er zijn steeds meer jongeren met angstklachten. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat opvoedstijl een voorspeller kan zijn voor de hoeveelheid angstklachten bij adolescenten. Met name een (over)beschermende...Show moreEr zijn steeds meer jongeren met angstklachten. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat opvoedstijl een voorspeller kan zijn voor de hoeveelheid angstklachten bij adolescenten. Met name een (over)beschermende opvoedstijl zou samenhangen met angstklachten bij de adolescent. Maar welke aspecten van deze opvoedstijl leiden tot verhoging van angstklachten is nog niet volledig bekend. Bij een (over)beschermende opvoedstijl ligt de nadruk wellicht minder op het aspect cognitieve empathie. Als ouders heel beschermend zijn, zijn ze zich mogelijk minder bewust van de gevoelens en behoeftes van hun kind. Ouders proberen de emoties van het kind te controleren en tonen zo minder empathie, door minder ruimte voor emoties te geven. In de huidige studie is daarom onderzocht of verhoogde cognitieve empathie het verband tussen een (over)beschermende opvoedstijl en angstklachten bij adolescenten medieert. Hiertoe hebben 115 adolescenten, waarbij 102 vaders en 114 moeders, als onderdeel van een grotere studie, een reeks vragenlijsten ingevuld om deze variabelen te meten. Met de Interpersonal Reactivity Index werd cognitieve empathie van de ouders gemeten, met de Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders de angstklachten bij de adolescent en met de Parental Bonding Instrument de mate van een (over)beschermende opvoedstijl. Regressieanalyses toonden aan dat een (over)beschermende opvoedstijl van de ouders inderdaad positief samenhing met de angstklachten bij de adolescent, maar deze relatie werd niet gemedieerd door cognitieve ouderlijke empathie. De resultaten worden geïnterpreteerd en limitaties en vervolgonderzoeken worden besproken.Show less
Introduction: Previous research in blood plasma has revealed a potential relationship between depression and the immune system. A similar relationship between aggressive behavior and the immune...Show moreIntroduction: Previous research in blood plasma has revealed a potential relationship between depression and the immune system. A similar relationship between aggressive behavior and the immune system suggests that the three phenomena are interconnected in some way. To date, this interaction has not been researched in adolescents. The current study investigates the relationship between adolescent depression and immune markers (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and CRP), and examines aggressive behavior as a potential moderator in this relationship. Immune markers were measured in salivary samples, contributing to the incorporation of a novel, non- invasive way to assess inflammation in mental health research. Methods: A total of 114 adolescents with and without clinically diagnosed depression were included in the present study (32 depressed, 76 healthy controls; 32.4% males; mean age 15.91 years old, ranging from 12-18). Participants provided 2ml saliva via passive drool, in which IL6, IL-1β and TNF-α were analyzed with the Luminex Human Discovery Assay (Bio-Techne), and CRP was analyzed with an ELISA Kit Generation II (Salimetrics). Parents of the participating adolescents filled in the Child Behavior Checklist-questionnaire on aggressive behavior. Results: In an analysis of covariance no significant associations were found between depression and levels of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and CRP. In addition, no significant moderating effects of aggressive behavior on this relationship were found. Conclusion: Despite earlier evidence nudging towards a relationship between depression and the immune system, this study has not obtained similar results. Future studies on the matter are warranted, preferably with simultaneous advancement of salivary measurement technologies.Show less
Empathie vanuit de ouder speelt een belangrijke rol in de opvoeding. Veranderingen in het empathievermogen van ouders kunnen dan ook grote gevolgen hebben voor de ontwikkeling van het kind. Wanneer...Show moreEmpathie vanuit de ouder speelt een belangrijke rol in de opvoeding. Veranderingen in het empathievermogen van ouders kunnen dan ook grote gevolgen hebben voor de ontwikkeling van het kind. Wanneer ouders een verleden hebben met jeugdtrauma gerelateerd aan kindermishandeling, kan dat hun empathievermogen veranderen. Om een beter beeld hiervan te krijgen in de opvoedcontext, werd er onderzocht of ouders met een verleden met jeugdtrauma negatievere emoties ervaren als reactie op een nare gebeurtenis van hun kind en of dit verband gemedieerd werd door empathie. De steekproef bestond uit 115 adolescenten, waarvan 35 met een depressieve stoornis en 80 gezonde adolescenten. Eén of beide ouders van de adolescenten namen ook deel (n = 120 moeders, n = 108 vaders). Er werd een interactietaak afgenomen waarbij het kind een nare gebeurtenis met de ouder deelde en er werden vragenlijsten afgenomen die empathie en negatieve emoties maten. In dit onderzoek is er alleen gekeken naar de data van de ouders. Er werd een significant positief verband gevonden tussen jeugdtrauma en negatieve emoties in reactie op een nare gebeurtenis van het kind, β = 0.30, p < .001. Dit verband werd in tegenstelling tot de verwachting niet gemedieerd door empathie. Deze bevindingen hebben mogelijk belangrijke implicaties voor de praktijk en vervolgonderzoek. Zo kan het bijvoorbeeld bijdragen aan het ontwikkelen van hulpmiddelen voor ouders met een traumaverleden en aan de verbreding van het perspectief op jeugdtrauma en empathie. Dit is belangrijk om de negatieve gevolgen op de emotieregulatie van het kind te beperken.Show less
Violence against women is a persistent problem with deleterious consequences, such as the onset and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is still little evidence-based...Show moreViolence against women is a persistent problem with deleterious consequences, such as the onset and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is still little evidence-based research done on the effects of peer support for people with symptoms of PTSD that have experienced domestic violence. Consequently, it is of great clinical interest to investigate if peer support groups are beneficial for this subgroup. This study investigated whether peer support groups are an effective treatment for reducing PTSD symptoms by increasing hopefulness among women who have experienced abuse. Thirteen female participants (Mage = 37.54 years at baseline) attended ten sessions of peer support groups led by an experience expert and completed questionnaires at a pre-measurement and a post-measurement. The methods used in this study were the Life Events Checklist, PTSD checklist for DSM-5, adult hope scale, and childhood trauma questionnaire. We found a reduction in the severity of PTSD symptoms (for intrusion symptoms and negative changes in cognitions and mood) and an increase in hopefulness after participation in the peer support sessions. This increase was seen for both participants' goal orientation and their ability to make plans to achieve their goals. Although we expected a relationship between PTSD symptomology and hopefulness, this was not found. The findings from this study suggest that peer support groups may be a beneficial addition for women with PTSD symptoms who are not in treatment (yet) or have tried established PTSD treatment.Show less
Background: Childhood maltreatment (abuse and neglect) has been associated with high levels of the pro-inflammatory marker interleuken-6 (IL-6), which is a risk factor for developing chronic...Show moreBackground: Childhood maltreatment (abuse and neglect) has been associated with high levels of the pro-inflammatory marker interleuken-6 (IL-6), which is a risk factor for developing chronic inflammation and poor health outcomes. How hormonal sex differences affect this relationship remains unclear. Objective: The first aim of this study was to investigate the association between experienced childhood maltreatment and inflammation, measured via salivary levels of IL-6. We then explored if this relationship was moderated by sex differences. Methods: A total of 117 participants (50.4% female, aged 22 to 65 years old) were recruited at Leiden University from a cross-sectional family study. Experienced abused and neglect were measured through self-report questionnaires (Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), and IL-6 was measured through saliva samples gathered. Data was analysed with a moderation analysis, performed with the SPSS PROCESS macro. Results: Results indicate that there was no significant relationship between childhood maltreatment and increased levels of IL-6 in saliva, and sex differences did not moderate the relationship. A significant association was found between general health problems and increased levels of IL-6. Conclusion: No conclusive statements could be made with insignificant results. Further research should focus on differences in sex hormones (testosterone, oestrogen) after experiencing childhood maltreatment, with more distinction between abuse vs. neglect. And future studies should explore the validity of collecting IL-6 in salivary samples over blood.Show less
Adults who have experienced trauma in their childhood risk having a wide range of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there may be protective factors...Show moreAdults who have experienced trauma in their childhood risk having a wide range of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there may be protective factors that could explain why not all victims develop psychopathology in adulthood. One of these potential factors is ‘psychological resilience’: a cognitive process that determines if an individual is able to bounce back from a negative experience through flexible adaptation. The current study aims to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms, along with the possible moderating impact of psychological resilience on this relationship. This was investigated with a cross-sectional design, by means of an online selfreport questionnaire performed by 26 Dutch women aged 25 to 62 years of whom most had experienced some type of trauma. The data was collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SR), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-V (PCL-5) and the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES). The results of a multiple regression analysis demonstrated that, as expected, women who experienced more childhood trauma showed an increased amount of PTSD symptoms (R² = .614, p ≤ .000), and that women with a higher level of resilience showed a lower amount of PTSD symptoms (R² = .74, p ≤ .000). However, resilience cannot be considered as a moderator of the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms, as the interaction between childhood trauma and resilience was not significant (p = .179). Instead, the study did find that women who experienced more childhood trauma show lower levels of resilience (r = -.574, p = < .005). The current study recommends future studies to examine what exact role resilience has in the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms. In addition, it emphasizes to boost resilience in victims of childhood trauma, because it may decrease the likelihood of developing PTSD symptoms in adulthood.Show less
BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment is a global health problem affecting children across the globe, that can result in serious impairments in later life, taking the form of serious psychological...Show moreBACKGROUND: Child maltreatment is a global health problem affecting children across the globe, that can result in serious impairments in later life, taking the form of serious psychological disorders or impoverished social skills. Empathy belongs to one of these fundamental skills. The current study aims to replicate previous findings that childhood maltreatment history is associated with lower empathy levels. Generally, research distinguishes between affective and cognitive empathy. Hence, this study explores possible differences in impact of child maltreatment history on cognitive versus affective empathy. METHOD: This cross-sectional design involved 218 healthy participants between 18 and 79 years of age. To assess child maltreatment, the Dutch version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) were used to assess both cognitive and affective empathy. The sample was divided into maltreated and non-maltreated participants, by applying cut-off scores, and where compared with multivariate ANOVAs on MET mean arousal level, MET total accuracy, perspective taking (PT), empathic concern (EC), fantasy (FS) and personal distress (PD). RESULTS: The present study failed to replicate previous findings of associations between child maltreatment and lowered empathy. Furthermore, a difference in impact on the two forms of empathy was not identified. However, after the exclusion of outliers, an indication was found for impaired cognitive empathy in individuals with maltreatment history. DISCUSSION: The present study shows that possible selective effects of child maltreatment on either cognitive or affective empathy may exist. Knowing how maltreatment differentially affects individuals in later adulthood, can help to optimize both prevention measures as well as treatments dealing with the consequence of child maltreatment, e.g. individual training focusing on either type of empathy. Limitations of the present study are discussed.Show less
BACKGROUND: Previous research found that anxious characteristic traits might have its origin in the prenatal phase due to the infant's exposure to maternal stress hormones. Maternal prenatal stress...Show moreBACKGROUND: Previous research found that anxious characteristic traits might have its origin in the prenatal phase due to the infant's exposure to maternal stress hormones. Maternal prenatal stress symptoms as well as high cortisol levels have been found to predict negative affectivity in infant temperament. The current paper examined whether maternal prenatal cortisol decline during the day in late pregnancy mediates the relationship between maternal prenatal anxiety and negative affectivity in infant temperament at age 1. METHOD: This longitudinal correlational study included 114 mother-child pairs. Anxiety was assessed once in the last trimester of pregnancy and three months after giving birth. Salivary samples were taken five times a day for two days in the third trimester to determine cortisol concentrations. Infant temperament was assessed by a questionnaire answered by the mothers at infant's age 1. Maternal postnatal anxiety, birth weight and infant's gender were examined as possible covariates. RESULTS: Results revealed that there is a significant correlation between maternal prenatal anxiety and negative affectivity in infants (p < .05). No mediation effect of cortisol decline on the relationship between high scores in maternal prenatal anxiety and higher negative affectivity in infants was found. DISCUSSION: It was not clear whether adverse behavioural developments were dependent on maternal prenatal patterns and thus, whether infants could be prone to anxiety issues in later life. The study provided a framework for future studies to assess pathology's aetiology in a transgenerational way. Alternative explanations, limitations and future directions were discussed.Show less
