Context and relevance. Cerebral meningioma is the most prevalent benign tumor of the central nervous system. Despite favorable outcomes following stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), a considerable proportion of patients continues to experience significant psychological distress. Post-traumatic stress symptoms play a key role in the formation and chronification of emotional disadaptation, being associated both with the current illness situation and with prior traumatic experience. The persistence of emotional disadaptation symptoms, including post-traumatic ones, in the absence of tumor progression points to their predominantly psychogenic nature and highlights the need to examine the role of PTS in the dynamics of adaptation to the disease. Objective. To examine the longitudinal dynamics of emotional disadaptation, including post-traumatic stress symptoms, in patients with сerebral meningioma, identify individual adaptation trajectories, and determine the role of prior traumatic experience in their formation. Methods and materials. Sixty-two patients with CM (91% female, mean age 57,8 years) underwent repeated psychological assessment six months after SRS. The assessment battery included the modified Distress Thermometer (Holland), PCL-5, Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger—Hanin Anxiety Scale, Ruminative Response Scale, and the Somatosensory Amplification Scale. Statistical analyses comprised paired-sample t-tests, repeated-measures ANOVA, hierarchical cluster analysis, and binary logistic regression (IBM SPSS Statistics 23). Results. At six months post-SRS, PTS symptoms remained at baseline levels (p = 0,583); statistically significant improvement was observed only for state anxiety (p < 0,01). Cluster analysis identified three adaptation trajectories: improvement (43,5%), stability (40,3%), and deterioration (16,1%). Logistic regression revealed three significant predictors of an unfavorable trajectory: prior traumatic experience (OR = 6,49; p < 0,01), elevated rumination (p < 0,01), and younger age (p < 0,05). Conclusions. The findings demonstrate the persistence of PTS symptoms after successful CM treatment and confirm the key role of prior traumatic experience in the chronification of emotional disadaptation. Patients with a traumatic history are 6,5 times more likely to show deterioration (OR = 6,49; p < 0,01). The results support the need for targeted PTS screening and differentiated psychological support incorporating trauma history assessment at the pre-SRS stage.
Context and relevance. Young people in modern Russia find themselves in the complex context of a military conflict and the associated information impacts. In this regard, the task arises of searching for mechanisms to mitigate the risks of deterioration in the psycho- emotional health of young people against the background of specific stress. The theoretical basis of the study was a contextual approach to the study of stress in young people who found themselves in conditions of varying territorial proximity to the special military operation (SMO), as well as the dispositional theory of coping. The aim of the study was to identify and analyze the general and specific features of coping with the stressful impact of the information context of a special military operation in young people with different territorial proximity to the military conflict zone. Methods and materials. The study involved 582 people aged 17 to 36 years (M = 20.9; SD = 6.3). Methodological complex: a semi-structured questionnaire processed using the method of content analysis; An abbreviated version of the Russian-language method for assessing coping strategies (COPE- 30), a non-situational version (M.A. Odintsova, N.P. Radchikova, L.A. Aleksandrova, 2022); self-assessment scales for indicators of personal existential security; self-assessment scales for prevailing emotions arising in response to incoming information. Results. The level of stress associated with the information context in young people varies depending on their territorial proximity to the SVO, manifesting itself most acutely among residents of the border zone and Crimea. Young people from active combat zones are characterized by emotional blunting and decreased existential security; residents of border areas demonstrate higher levels of negative emotions. Quantitative data indicate a generalized tension in the use of coping strategies, which indicates a destabilization of psychological regulation. The most common coping strategies were limiting information exposure and distraction/switching, while at the dispositional level, resilience to information overload is associated with proactive coping strategies. Conclusions. Young people's coping with stress associated with the information context in the context of the SVO is complex, but often tense and internally contradictory. High activity in the use of coping strategies serves not so much as an indicator of successful adaptation as a symptom of the destabilization of psychological regulation mechanisms under the influence of a chronic stressor. The findings highlight the importance of considering the territorial context, including the paradoxical effects of adaptation to extreme conditions, and developing targeted psychological support programs aimed at developing flexible and effective information hygiene and emotional self-regulation skills.
Context and relevance. The mental health of mothers and children in the context of armed conflict is a critically important issue. Research indicates that maternal stress and maladaptive parenting styles are key mediators in the transmission of the psychological consequences of trauma from mother to child, even in the absence of the child's direct exposure to combat. However, the nature of the influence of distance from the conflict zone on these processes and the unique contribution of maternal stress and parenting practices to child stress, after accounting for the regional factor, remain unclear. Objective. To assess the influence of proximity to the combat zone on the level of maternal stress, parenting styles, and child stress, as well as to determine the unique contribution of maternal stress and parenting practices to the level of child stress after controlling for the influence of the regional factor. Hypotheses. 1) Distance from the combat zone is negatively associated with the level of maternal stress, negative parenting styles, and the level of child stress. 2) Maternal stress and parenting style make a unique contribution to the child's stress level that cannot be explained solely by the adverse regional environment. Methods and materials. The study involved 3544 mothers of preschool-aged children (maternal ages: M = 35.87, SD = 5.43) residing in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the Republic of Crimea, and other regions of Russia. Russian-language versions of questionnaires were used: the Perceived Stress Scale (assessment of maternal stress), the Perceived Stress Scale for Children (mother's assessment of child stress), and the Parenting Practices Questionnaire (identification of parenting types: positive, inconsistent, use of punishments). Data analysis employed descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and hierarchical regression. Results. The level of maternal stress decreased linearly with increasing distance from the conflict zone. The level of child stress and the use of a punitive inconsistent parenting style were significantly higher in the DPR but did not differ between Crimea and other regions. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that maternal stress and, especially, the punitive inconsistent parenting style make a unique and significant contribution to the level of child stress, exceeding the influence of the regional factor. Conclusions. Parenting styles are an independent and the most powerful risk factor for the development of child stress. The obtained results emphasize the necessity for comprehensive interventions aimed simultaneously at reducing maternal stress and correcting parenting practices, both in active conflict zones and in relatively prosperous regions.
Background and Relevance. A comparative analysis of the psychological consequences of natural versus sudden, violent loss of a significant close person during early adulthood is being conducted. The research design, aimed at assessing the severity of traumatization, comorbid psychopathological symptoms considering the type and time since loss, as well as the effectiveness of personal resources, creates an opportunity to examine the role of posttraumatic stress in the period of adaptation to loss. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for systematic clarification of the differential diagnostic criteria of complicated grief and posttraumatic stress. Objective. To analyze the psychological consequences of experiencing different types of loss and to identify arguments supporting the differentiation between manifestations of the grieving process and symptoms of posttraumatic stress at different time intervals following the traumatic event. Hypothesis. The severity of psychological consequences following the loss of a close person is determined by the type of loss, the time elapsed since the event, and the presence or absence of emotional-cognitive resources that facilitate the completion of the grieving process and the reduction of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Methods and Materials. The study sample consisted of young adults (18 to 32 years old, M = 22,3) with a history of losing a significant close person (N = 103), subjectively assessed as the most traumatic event in their personal experience. To test the research hypothesis, the following set of measures was used: the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Check List (PCL-5), adapted in 2017 at the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Tarabrina, Kharlamenkova, Padun, et al., 2017); Symptom Check List of Psychopathological Symptoms in the Russian adaptation (Tarabrina et al., 2007); C. Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-Being, adapted by L.V. Zhukovskaya and E.G. Troshikhina (2011); The Behavioral Control Questionnaire (E.A. Sergienko, G.A. Vilenskaya, I.I. Vetrova); and the Questionnaire «Age-of-Me» (Barak, 2009), adapted by E.A. Sergienko (2011). Results. It was demonstrated that the pattern of psychological consequences of losing a significant close person in young adulthood is determined by a combination of factors, including the cause of death, the time elapsed since the event, as well as the degree of availability and utilization of emotional-cognitive resources necessary for integrating the experience of loss.
Context and relevance. PTSD involves not only intrusions and flashbacks but also multimodal hallucinations, previously read as a manifestation of comorbid psychosis, which hindered the development of a unified model linking hallucinations to traumatic memory mechanisms. Objective. To formulate an integrative model of the intrusion-to-hallucination transition in PTSD and its specificity in combat trauma. Methods and Materials. A theoretical synthesis of research on traumatic memory and neuro-metacognitive correlates of perceptual decompensation. Results. A cascade model is proposed: the intrusion-to-hallucination pathway as phase transitions driven by traumatic memory disintegration, dissociation, metacognitive dysregulation, and dominance of traumatic priors over sensory input; combat trauma catalyzes multimodality via cumulative exposure and moral dissonance. Conclusions. Hallucinations are the peak of the re-experiencing continuum, transitioning into a discontinuum (a dissociative register). The cascade model integrates neurocognitive and psychological levels of analysis of hallucinatory experience and provides a phase-specific map of therapeutic targets.
