Background The COVID-19 pandemic exposed individuals to numerous psychosocial and health-related stressors associated with adjustment disorder (AjD) symptoms, yet it remains unclear which factors are most predictive.Methods Using mixed-effects regression random forests (MERF), a machine learning approach that combines random forests with mixed-effects regressions, we analyzed longitudinal data from 15,155 adults across 11 European countries collected at three time points between June 2020 and January 2022. We evaluated 245 candidate predictors, including sociodemographic, pandemic-related, and health-related factors, for their relative importance in predicting AjD symptoms (ADNM-8).Results The seven most influential predictors, ranked in descending order of importance, were uncertainty about the pandemic's duration and risks, poor health, social isolation, conflicts at home, loss of daily structure, fear of infection, and restricted personal contact with close others.Conclusions AjD symptoms were most strongly linked to factors related to lack of control (e.g., uncertainty, loss of daily structure, fear of infection), as well as current poor health and reduced social connectedness. Interventions that enhance a sense of control through clear communication, help individuals re-establish daily routines, and strengthen social connectedness may mitigate AjD symptoms during future public health crises. Our findings also highlight the potential of machine learning approaches for identifying complex patterns across high-dimensional predictors of clinical symptoms, which may improve prediction accuracy in mental health research.

In 2020, Central Croatia was hit by three severe earthquakes which deepened the crisis that had already been induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined whether adolescents' COVID-19- and earthquake-related distress were associated with their physical and internalizing mental health symptoms, and whether parenting behaviors of their mothers and fathers moderated these associations. The sample included 362 three-informant families. Adolescents (M-age = 15.14, 55.2% girls) self-reported their COVID-19- and earthquake-related distress, as well as physical and internalizing symptoms. Mothers and fathers self-reported positive and negative parenting behaviors. The results revealed that mothers' and, to a lesser degree, fathers' parenting moderated distress-health associations. Specifically, adolescents' disaster-related distress was associated with more symptoms only when paired with high negative and low positive parenting. Our findings suggest that interventions aimed at protecting adolescents' health in times of disasters should target not only adolescents' symptoms, but also parenting behaviors of their mothers and fathers.

Different unfavorable circumstances on the part of parents can be important predictors of impaired mental health of their children. Two well-known theories, the Family Stress Model (FSM, Conger et al., 1994) and the Developmental Model of Transgenerational Transmission of Psychopathology (DMTTP, Hosman et al., 2009), provide comprehensive explanation how parental financial status, mental health and parenting behaviors impact children’s mental health problems. However, most of studies focused on this topic have been conducted with mothers, while studies with fathers are significantly underrepresented. Therefore, the present study examined whether fathers’ perception of financial difficulties was related to internalizing symptoms of their adolescent children and whether this relationship was mediated by fathers’ PTSD symptoms, parenting stress and negative parenting behaviors. The sample consisted of 311 dyads of fathers’ and their adolescent children (55,1

Background: The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is well documented. However, only a few studies investigated mental health in later phases of the pandemic and after its official end. Moreover, little is known about people's psychological burden related to the pandemic and other global crises post-pandemic.Objective: Study's first objective was to compare mental health outcomes in the general population over the course of the pandemic and ten months post-pandemic. The second objective was to explore people's psychological burden regarding the pandemic, in comparison to current wars, climate crises, inflation, and poor government management and/or corruption in the post-pandemic era.Method: Participants from the general population of Austria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, and Portugal (68.8% female, Mage = 41.55) were assessed online up to four times between June 2020 and March 2024 (baseline sample: N = 7913). Adjustment Disorder New Module - 8 (ADNM-8), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), and World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) were used to measure adjustment disorder, depression, and well-being. Prevalence rates were calculated and repeated measures ANOVAs applied to assess mental health at four time points. One-way repeated measures ANOVA was run to explore how the different global crises were related to participants' burden.Results: Temporal variations in mental health were evident across four assessment waves, with highest levels of probable adjustment disorder and depression in winter 2020/2021 (T2). A slight improvement of mental health was found at later time points. Current wars and inflation were the greatest sources of psychological burden at the post-pandemic assessment, revealing some cross-country differences.Conclusion: Although mental health differences in the general population were not as pronounced as in the acute phase of the pandemic, psychosocial support is still needed post-pandemic. This is likely to be due to other global crises that take a toll on people's mental health.

The goals of the study were aimed at describing the negative effects of working with traumatized children and adolescents on various aspects of the helper's mental health, and describing the characteristics and the role of supervision in the process of empowering the helper to provide support to traumatized children and adolescents, as well as to take better care of their own mental health. 12 participants took part in the research, experts who are employed in public welfare institutions for children and institutions of the health system and the non-governmental sector aimed at providing treatment support to children and young people with trauma experience. Their ratio within regard to the place of employment in the sample was equal. All participants had at least five or more years of work experience. A qualitative approach was used in the research, and the data wereas collected through a semi-structured research interview. The conducted research confirmed the negative effects of working with traumatized children and adolescents, which participants described through the constructs of secondary traumatic stress, vicarious traumatization and compassion fatigue. The key recommendation of the research is focused on the need toof raiseing awareness about the importance of mental health care among helpers, recognizing and acknowledging their susceptibility to the effects of secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization, as well as compassion fatigue, as necessary and inevitable consequences of their work.

U radu se ispituje doprinos odabranih prediktora u objašnjavanju rizičnosti za zlostavljanje kod očeva djece mlađe adolescentne dobi. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 378 očeva, prosječne dobi 45 godina (SD = 5,836), dok su djeca u odnosu na koju se procjenjivala rizičnost za zlostavljanje u prosjeku imala 13 godina (SD = 0,756). Kao kriterijska varijabla koristio se Inventar rizičnosti za zlostavljanje djeteta (Child Abuse Potential Inventory; Milner, 1986). Pokazalo se da je 13,4 % očeva prema blažem, odnosno 7,8 % prema strožem kriteriju, rizično za tjelesno zlostavljanje djece. Viša životna dob, niži mjesečni prihodi kućanstva, percipirana lošija kvaliteta partnerskog odnosa, češća primjena psihičke agresije u partnerskom odnosu, veći broj visoko stresnih događaja u posljednje tri godine te veća uznemirenost svakodnevnim stresom povećavaju rizičnost za zlostavljanje djeteta, dok bolje strategije nošenja sa stresom te donekle i veći doživljaj socijalne podrške smanjuju rizičnost. Nalazi su raspravljeni pod vidom izrade programa za osnaživanje pojedinaca i obitelji s djecom koji žive u ekonomskim teškoćama i imaju više sukoba u partnerskim odnosima te promjena u području socijalnih politika koje to mogu olakšati.

In family financial difficulties, adolescents often become aware of their parents' concerns and attempt to contribute to the family. However, in such circumstances, adolescents may sometimes neglect their own needs to avoid further burdening their parents and provide additional support, which can manifest as emotional parentification. Previous research has established that emotional parentification is associated with poorer outcomes in adolescents. However, no study has quantitatively examined the occurrence of emotional parentification in the context of family economic hardship. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the relationship between family financial hardship, emotional parentification, self-esteem, and internalising problems in adolescents. The structural equation modelling was applied to investigate the relationships between these variables. The sample included 378 adolescents and their mothers. Significant relationships were found between maternal perceived financial hardship and emotional parentification, as well as between emotional parentification, internalised problems, and lower levels of self-esteem. This study contributes to the understanding of emotional parentification and its outcomes in the context of financial hardship, viewed from the perspectives of the Family Stress Model and Family Systems Theory. Additionally, the findings suggest that emotional parentification is a negative form of parentification as it is related to internalised problems and lower self-esteem. Beyond its scientific contributions, this study also has practical implications. It highlights that economic difficulties within the family may represent a risk factor for emotional parentification. Professionals working with families should assess the roles within family dynamics and evaluate whether these roles are developmentally appropriate.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents and repetitional suicidal ideations (SI) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) often precede it. In order to improve recognition of youth who are at high risk of suicide, current study aims to identify which individual variables (personality, self-concept and adverse childhood experiences - ACE) predict prolonged NSSI and SI from middle to late adolescence. A 3-year longitudinal study was conducted with 1101 Croatian adolescents (aged 15-17). 181 students (72.4% females) reported either NSSI or SI or both in T1 and were included in all waves of the study. Analyses are focused on differentiation between adolescents who continue with NSSI/SI and those who stop with it in a 3-year period. Results showed that adolescents with prolonged NSSI/SI had more ACE, especially domestic violence, worse family financial status, higher neuroticism and lower results on self-concept variables. The prediction model of classification of those who have prolonged NSSI or SI was better for SI than NSSI, with predictors explaining 31% of variation in SI. Adolescents who experienced more ACE and report more neuroticism have a higher chance of prolonged SI, while youth who perceive better family financial status and have better relationships with parents have a greater chance to stop with it. For NSSI only neuroticism was a significant predictor. Considering significant variables which could predict prolonged NSSI and/or SI, data presented in this paper have both scientific and practical contribution in understanding, treating and preventing adolescents' mental health problems.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused multiple stressors that may lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder. Objective: We longitudinally examined relationships between risk and protective factors, pandemic-related stressors and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as whether these relationships differed by the time of assessment. Method: The European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) ADJUST Study included N = 15,169 participants aged 18 years and above. Participants from 11 European countries were recruited and screened three times at 6-month intervals from June 2020 to January 2022. Associations between risk and protective factors (e.g. gender), stressors (e.g. fear of infection), and symptoms of adjustment disorder (AjD, ADNM-8) and their interaction with time of assessment were examined using mixed linear regression. Results: The following predictors were significantly associated with higher AjD symptom levels: female or diverse gender; older age; pandemic-related news consumption >30 min a day; a current or previous mental health disorder; trauma exposure before or during the pandemic; a good, satisfactory or poor health status (vs. very good); burden related to governmental crisis management and communication; fear of infection; restricted social contact; work-related problems; restricted activity; and difficult housing conditions. The following predictors were associated with lower AjD levels: self-employment or retirement; working in healthcare; and face-to-face contact >= once a week with loved ones or friends. The effects of the following predictors on AjD symptoms differed by the time of assessment in the course of the pandemic: a current or previous mental disorder; burden related to governmental crisis management; income reduction; and a current trauma exposure. Conclusions: We identified risk factors and stressors predicting AjD symptom levels at different stages of the pandemic. For some predictors, the effects on mental health may change at different stages of a pandemic.

Intergenerational transmission of trauma (ITT) is a process in which the trauma experienced in one generation is transmitted to the second or third generation. Understanding intergenerational transmission of trauma and its complexity promotes further understanding of how trauma affects individuals, families, and communities across generations, how to address it through effective intervention, and how offspring can be protected from ITT. The focus of this paper is to describe the effects and mechanisms of transmission between several war-related potentially traumatic events that parents experienced during their childhood and its intergenerational effects on their children. Using the PRISMA criteria, 34 psycho- social studies and 7 epigenetic studies met the scope of the inclusion criteria. Overall findings indicate that the children of war survivors often face mental health difficulties and suffer from PTSD symptoms, internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, and attachment anxiety and avoidance. Regarding the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of war trauma, self-report measures show different parenting and family-mediated transmission mechanisms of mental health risks on children while epigenetics reveals the underlying biological basis of ITT. Future research must work towards a more precise operationalizati on of the transmission mechanisms, protective factors, and risk factors. This will provide a better understanding of the underlying processes and enable the planning of targeted and timely prevention programs for war-affected parents to protect the immediate and long-term mental health and well-being of children.

The aim of this paper was to examine secondary traumatization and mental health indicators, together with the predictors of secondary traumatization among social workers employed in the Institute for Social Work in the Republic of Croatia. 106 social workers employed in different departments of the Institute for Social Work participated in the research. The results showed that secondary traumatization is present among social workers. 14.1% of the participants showed severe or extremely severe levels of depressive symptoms, and 20.8% of the participants showed severe or extremely severe levels of anxiety and stress, while the overall results on the Well-Being Index showed their poor emotional state. Predictors of secondary traumatization were the longer working time spent dealing with the user’s traumas and the lower level of personal self-care. Key words: secondary traumatization; trauma; self-care; social workers.

The motivation for this text are the outcomes of the First research days on supervision that were organized by the Doctoral Program “Social Work and Social Policy” (PDS SWSP) and the Postgraduate University Specialist Study Program “Supervision in Psychosocial Work” in April, 2023. The plenary lecture on the conceptualization of qualitative research on the doctoral level and two panel discussions with doctoral students and their mentors showed that the process of preparation of doctoral theses on supervision is an intense process during which a transition of the roles from supervisors into researchers occurs, with a gradual integration of these two roles into a new, expanded professional identity. Apart from that, the preparation of a qualitative doctoral thesis is often a lonely process accompanied by numerous insecurities, and therefore it is necessary to develop new forms of support for doctoral students that would enable a creative space and time for doctoral students to reflect on the development of their supervisory and scientific-research identity. The analysis of methodological aspects and outcomes of specialist final papers, as well as a panel discussion among supervisors, decision-makers and users of supervision in different systems (e.g. social welfare education, penal system) pointed out the need for further improvements, for example designing more complex research projects in which a team of postgraduate students and their mentors would take part. To maintain the quality of specialist final papers and doctoral theses, methodological workshops for students and mentors are needed. Key words: research on supervision; development of scientific-research identity of supervisors; applied value of research on supervision; workshops for qualitative research.

The motivation for this text are the outcomes of the First research days on supervision that were organized by the Doctoral Program "Social Work and Social Policy" (PDS The plenary lecture on the conceptualization of qualitative research on the doctoral level and two panel discussions with doctoral students and their mentors showed that the process of preparation of doctoral theses on supervision is an intense process during which a transition of the roles from supervisors into researchers occurs, with a gradual integration of these two roles into a new, expanded professional identity. Apart from that, the preparation of a qualitative doctoral thesis is otten a lonely process accompanied by numerous insecurities, and therefore it is necessary to develop new forms of support for doctoral students that would enable a creative space and time for doctoral students to reflect on the development of their supervisory and scienThe analysis of methodological aspects and outcomes of specialist final papers, as well as a panel discussion

The aim of this paper was to examine secondary traumatization and mental health indicators, together with the predictors of secondary traumatization among social workers employed in the Institute for Social Work in the Republic of Croa-tia. 106 social workers employed in different departments of the Institute for Social Work participated in the research. The results showed that secondary traumati-zation is present among social workers. 14.1% of the participants showed severe or extremely severe levels of depressive symptoms, and 20.8% of the participants showed severe or extremely severe levels of anxiety and stress, while the overall results on the Well-Being Index showed their poor emotional state. Predictors of se-condary traumatization were the longer working time spent dealing with the user's traumas and the lower level of personal self-care

The present study aimed to investigate the trajectories of adjustment disorder (AD) symptoms and well-being over 20 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria and Croatia. Further objectives of this study were to examine whether sociodemographic characteristics and the symptoms of anxiety and depression could predict these trajectories. As part of the pan-European ESTSS ADJUST study, N = 1144 individuals were recruited using convenience sampling and assessed four times between June 2020 and January 2022 through an online survey. Latent growth curve modelling was applied to estimate the trajectories of AD symptoms and well-being. Over time, the prevalence of probable AD varied between 9.8% and 15.1%. The symptoms of AD tended to increase, whereas well-being tended to decrease. According to the majority of the models tested, women, participants from Austria and those with lower income had higher initial AD symptoms, whereas older participants and those from Croatia had higher initial well-being. In all models and at all timepoints, anxiety and depression significantly predicted AD and well-being scores. Overall, our study points to several predictors of AD and well-being and indicates high variability in people's reactions to the pandemic. Psychosocial support for the general population is needed during pandemics and similar crises, with a special focus on vulnerable groups.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a manifestation of trauma exposure that could eventuate in psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and various mental health disturbances, especially in people who have experienced an additional stressor such as a traumatic event. This cross-sectional study assessed the relationship between pandemic-related stressors, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the risk for severe or life-threatening symptoms, and resilience among individuals with a traumatic history amidst the coronavirus disease. This study is part of a longitudinal pan-European research, the ADJUST study. The present study consisted of 14.106 participants. The questionnaires utilized included: sociodemographics, health aspects, the Criterion A section of the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5), the Pandemic Stressor Scale (PaSS), and the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES). For the analysis, descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were applied. 29% of the respondents reported a traumatic history. Fear of infection, burden of infection, crisis management and communication, restricted activity, risk for severe or life-threatening symptoms of the coronavirus disease, PTSD, and resilience were the predictive factors in the trauma-exposed population. This research provides insights into the stressors that individuals with a traumatic background might experience through the COVID-19 pandemic. Future interventions and worldwide health policies should target trauma-exposed populations to enhance psychological health amidst COVID-19 and other stressful events.