Intensive Vipassana Meditation Practice: An Intervention with Promise for Traumatized Prisoners

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2,266,800 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons and county jails at year-end 2010 – about 0.7% of the resident adult population. Childhood trauma increases the likelihood of criminal justice involvement in adulthood (Wolf & Shi, 2010). A high percentage of prisoners are survivors of childhood abuse and other traumas before they are imprisoned (Wallace, Connor, & Dass-Brailsford, 2011), and prisons are notoriously violent and traumatic places for inmates. In a survey of inmates in Midwestern prisons, 54% of men and 28% of women reported having been raped in their current facility (Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 2000). In short, prisons are veritable warehouses of traumatized adults.

Read full document at (PDF): http://ht.ly/S1btX HT https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept

Relationship Between Trauma, Shame & Guilt: Findings from a Community-Based Study of Refugee Minors in Germany

Below:  Scatterplot of the total number of traumatic events and the severity of PTSD symptoms experienced by unaccompanied (UMR) and accompanied (AMR) minor refugees

Below:  Scatterplot of the total number of traumatic events and global guilt experienced by unaccompanied (UMR) and accompanied (AMR) minor refugees

Below:  Scatterplot of the total number of traumatic events and intensity duration frequency of shame episodes experienced by unaccompanied (UMR) and accompanied (AMR) minor refugees

Feelings of guilt and shame as well as trauma symptoms were all associated with the number of traumatic event types subjects had experienced. Posttraumatic guilt and shame were both correlated with PTSD symptom severity.

The findings indicate that cumulative stress such as exposure to multiple traumatic events poses a risk factor for the mental health including greater suffering and functional impairment due to shame and guilt.

Read more at:   http://ht.ly/QXt2q HT @unikonstanz 

Using Facebook to Recruit Young Adult Veterans: Online Mental Health Research

Below:  Examples of Facebook ads.

We obtained a sample of 1023 verified veteran participants over a period of 24 days for the advertising price of approximately US $7.05 per verified veteran participant. Our recruitment strategy yielded a sample similar to the US population of young adult veterans in most demographic areas except for race/ethnicity and previous branch of service, which when we weighted the sample on race/ethnicity and branch a sample better matched with the population data was obtained. The Facebook sample recruited veterans who were engaged in a variety of risky health behaviors such as binge drinking and marijuana use. One fourth of veterans had never since discharge been to an appointment for physical health care and about half had attended an appointment for service compensation review. Only half had attended any appointment for a mental health concern at any clinic or hospital. Despite more than half screening positive for current probable mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, only about 1 in 3 received mental health care in the past year and only 1 in 50 received such care within the past month.

This work expands on the work of other studies that have examined clinical samples of veterans only and suggests Facebook can be an adequate method of obtaining samples of veterans in need of care.

Read more at:   http://ht.ly/QRRpK HT @RANDCorporation 

Alcohol Misuse in U.S. Women Veterans

Read at:  http://ht.ly/LmmPo HT @LosAngelesVA