Clinical science and torture survivors' rights to rehabilitation

Self-construal modulates default mode network connectivity in refugees with PTSD

BACKGROUND

While self-construal and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are independently associated with altered self-referential processes and underlying default mode network (DMN) functioning, no study has examined how self-construal affects DMN connectivity in PTSD.

METHODS

A final sample of 93 refugee participants (48 with DSM-5 PTSD or sub-syndromal PTSD and 45 matched trauma-exposed controls) completed a 5-minute resting state fMRI scan to enable the observation of connectivity in the DMN and other core networks. A self-construal index was calculated by substracting scores on the collectivistic and individualistic sub-scales of the Self Construal Scale.

RESULTS

Independent components analysis identified 9 active networks-of-interest, and functional network connectivity was determined. A significant interaction effect between PTSD and self-construal index was observed in the anterior ventromedial DMN, with spatial maps localizing this to the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), extending to the ventral anterior cingulate cortex. This effect revealed that connectivity in the vMPFC showed greater reductions in those with PTSD with higher levels of collectivistic self-construal.

LIMITATIONS

This is an observational study and causality cannot be assumed. The specialized sample of refugees means that the findings may not generalize to other trauma-exposed populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Such a finding indicates that self-construal may shape the core neural architecture of PTSD, given that functional disruptions to the vmPFC underpin the core mechanisms of extinction learning, emotion dysregulation and self-referential processing in PTSD. Results have important implications for understanding the universality of neural disturbances in PTSD, and suggest that self-construal could be an important consideration in the assessment and treatment of post-traumatic stress reactions.

Understanding the effects of being separated from family on refugees in Australia: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE

To understand the impact of family separation on refugees living in Australia.

METHOD

Thirteen participants with a refugee background and experiencing separation from family participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview. Interviews were coded and a thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo software.

RESULTS

Identified themes were organised under four domains. Domain 1 focused on the personal impact of family separation. Themes were the effects on mental health and functioning, driven by incessant worrying about the safety of family and the absence of key attachment figures, the specific effects of having missing family, alterations to self-identity and family dynamics. Domain 2 focused on themes relating to actions taken to find missing family, connect or reunite with separated family. Domain 3 highlighted the coping strategies, support mechanisms and protective factors used by participants. Domain 4 identified core beliefs about the importance of family unity, focusing on security, settlement and a happy future.

CONCLUSIONS

Family separation has an enduring effect on the wellbeing of refugees, with key pathways being ongoing fear and insecurity, disrupted social attachments and identity shifts in relation to the future self.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

Refugees separated from or missing family struggle with ongoing stress and adjustment issues.

Torture exposure and the functional brain: investigating disruptions to intrinsic network connectivity using resting state fMRI

Torture has profound psychological and physiological consequences for survivors. While some brain structures and functions appear altered in torture survivors, it is unclear how torture exposure influences functional connectivity within and between core intrinsic brain networks. In this study, 37 torture survivors (TS) and 62 non-torture survivors (NTS) participated in a resting-state fMRI scan. Data-driven independent components analysis identified active intrinsic networks. Group differences in functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN) and central executive network (CEN) of the triple network model, as well any prefrontal network, were examined while controlling for PTSD symptoms and exposure to other potentially traumatic events. The analysis identified 25 networks; eight comprised our networks of interest. Within-network group differences were observed in the left CEN (lCEN), where the TS group showed less spectral power in the low-frequency band. Differential internetwork dynamic connectivity patterns were observed, where the TS group showed stronger positive coupling between the lCEN and anterior dorsomedial and ventromedial DMN, and stronger negative coupling between a lateral frontal network and the lCEN and anterior dorsomedial DMN (when contrasted with the NTS group). Group differences were not attributed to torture severity or dissociative symptoms. Torture survivors showed disrupted dynamic functional connectivity between a laterally-aligned lCEN that serves top-down control functions over external processes and the midline DMN that underpins internal self-referential processes, which may be an adaptive response to mitigate the worst effects of the torture experience. This study provides a critical step in mapping the neural signature of torture exposure to guide treatment development and selection.

The impact of torture on interpersonal threat and reward neurocircuitry

OBJECTIVE

Torture adversely influences emotional functioning, but the neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning its impact are unknown. This study examined how torture exposure affects the neural substrates of interpersonal threat and reward processing.

METHODS

Male refugees with (N = 31) and without (N = 27) torture exposure completed a clinical interview and functional magnetic resonance imaging scan where they viewed fear, happy and neutral faces. Between-group activations and neural coupling were examined as moderated by posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity and cumulative trauma load.

RESULTS

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity and trauma load significantly moderated group differences in brain activation and connectivity patterns. Torture survivors deactivated the ventral striatum during happy processing compared to non-torture survivor controls as a function of increased posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity - particularly avoidance symptoms. The ventral striatum was more strongly coupled with the inferior frontal gyrus in torture survivors. Torture survivors also showed left hippocampal deactivation to both fear and happy faces, moderated by trauma load, compared to controls. Stronger coupling between the hippocampus and frontal, temporoparietal and subcortical regions during fear processing was observed, with pathways being predicted by avoidance and hyperarousal symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Torture exposure was associated with distinct brain activity and connectivity patterns during threat and reward processing, dependent on trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity. Torture appears to affect emotional brain functioning, and findings have the potential to guide more targeted interventions for torture survivors.

To Increase Mental Health Literacy and Human Rights Among New-Coming, Low-Educated Mothers With Experience of War: A Culturally, Tailor-Made Group Health Promotion Intervention With Participatory Methodology Addressing Indirectly the Children

Due to the increasing numbers of newcomers with impacts of war, civil war and persecution, at high risk of trauma-related mental health problems, there is a need for increase the poor mental health literacy (MHL) and human rights among the new-comers, especially low-educated mothers with children. This article aimed to present a case study report of several years' experience of tailor-made group health promotion intervention. It describes as an example, a project during autumn 2018 in five municipalities of Sweden and in collaboration between academia, primary care, social welfare, police, and an NGO. Fifty-one women, Arabic- or Somalian speaking, with 1-7 children, mean age 40 years, low-educated and in average four years' of living in Sweden participated. Under supervision, a local female member of the NGO coordinated the group meetings in Swedish with up to ten participants and the moderators were representatives of healthcare, social services and police/lawyer, with an interpreter present. Each intervention focused on human rights, health including mental health, psychosocial and parenting support, by using a 5-week group intervention a 2 h/week, totally 10 h excluding pre- and post-evaluation, and one language per intervention. Each meeting included 1-h lecture and after a short break with refreshments, the participants asked questions to the respective moderator. It was a mixed method but emphasis on qualitative design and participatory methodology with co-creation and evaluation of the intervention. The results showed that this tailor-made group intervention gave the participants empowerment and a sense of coherence, MHL and tools to deal with stress/anxiety, based on their needs that were mapped before in a pilot study during Spring 2018, indirectly addressing their children. However, they did not primarily talk about mental illness experience. It is vital that these interventions toward the target group with limited exposure to Western concepts (e.g., illness, anxiety, and trauma), may bridge the gap between Western and traditional cultural understanding of pre- and postmigration stress. In conclusion, MHL may be a function of both the cultural origin of the target group's background and their resettlement in a Western reception country. Implications are discussed.