"The importance of examining risk/resilience factors in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) across the lifespan has become increasingly obvious: childhood experiences confer risk/resilience for adulthood experiences and biological predictors and correlates of PTSD appear to differ developmentally." "Research into PTSD has typically been conducted with a focus on either child or adult PTSD, with relatively little overlap or discussion between the two camps. The overall focus of this collection is to bring these two groups of researchers together to examine developmental issues and how they impact biological and psychological risk and resilience factors and treatment issues in PTSD and comorbid disorders."--BOOK JACKET.

Research has suggested that childhood experiences confer risk/resilience for reactions to trauma in adulthood, and predictors and correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to differ developmentally. Research in PTSD has typically been conducted by either child or adult researchers with relatively little overlap or communication between the two camps. Developmental models of PTSD are necessary to fully understand the complex constellation of responses to trauma across the lifespan. Such models can inform study designs and lead to novel, developmentally-appropriate interventions. To this end, this book is organized in such a way as to present and integrate research into child, adult, and older adult trauma samples in an attempt to culminatein a testable model of PTSD risk and resilience across the lifespan. Each author incorporates a developmental slant to their individual chapter, and the chapters are organized to highlight potential differences in our understanding of risk and resiliencybetween children and adults. Initial chapters concerning pre- and peri-traumatic risk factors for PTSD lead into chapters reviewing specific risk and resilience factors in adults and children. Additional chapters focus on the impact of childhood trauma onadult functioning and the biology of PTSD in children, adults, and older adults. As PTSD rarely occurs in a "pure" form, specific chapters focus on the impact of comorbid disorders in our understanding of PTSD, and the final chapters consider both psychosocial and pharmacological treatments for PTSD in children and adults.

What enables people to bounce back from stressful experiences? How do certain individuals maintain a sense of purpose and direction over the long term, even in the face of adversity? This is the first book to move beyond childhood and adolescence to explore resilience across the lifespan. Coverage ranges from genetic and physiological factors through personal, family, organizational, and community processes. Contributors examine how resilience contributes to health and well-being across the adult life cycle; why—and what happens when—resilience processes fail; ethnic and cultural dimensions of resilience; and ways to enhance adult resilience, including reviews of exemplary programs.

This volume brings together the leaders in the field of PTSD research to present an up-to-date summary and understanding of this complex disorder. All of our current knowledge and controversies concerning the diagnosis, epidemiology, course, pathophysiology and treatment are described in detail. The evidence for efficacy for each of the different forms of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to at-risk groups, including minorities, and coverage of PTSD throughout the world is reviewed as well. The authors present state-of-the-art findings in genetics, epigenetics, neurotransmitter function and brain imaging to provide the most current and comprehensive review of this burgeoning field.

This book analyzes schizophrenia management in the context of recent clinical therapeutic advances that have transformed the measurements and outcomes landscape. Unlike any other resource, this volume carefully develops the social and clinical guidelines that affect the life of the patient and defines its role in schizophrenia treatment outcomes. The text begins by determining the concepts, development, neuroscience, and guidelines for positive outcomes before analyzing the gaps in the literature. The text addresses medical concerns in relation to outcomes in schizophrenic patients, including substance use, impact from antipsychotic medications, and medical comorbidities. The text also covers external determinants that may inhibit positive outcomes, including cultural factors, stigma, and environmental issues. Written by experts in schizophrenia care, this book compiles sound research, current clinical trends, and modern measurement markers into a well-organized compendium that delivers this data into a practical guide for measuring treatment outcomes in patients suffering from the disease. Schizophrenia Treatment Outcomes is the ultimate guide for psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and all medical practitioners interested in improving outcomes for schizophrenia patients.

This Handbook is the world′s first generic major reference work to provide an authoritative guide to the theory, method, and values of social work in one volume. Drawn from an international field of excellence, the contributors each offer a critical analysis of their individual area of expertise. The result is this invaluable resource collection that not only reflects upon the condition of social work today but also looks to future developments. Split into seven parts, the Handbook investigates: - Policy dimensions - Practice - Perspectives - Values and ethics - The context of social work - Research - Future challenges It is essential reading for all students, practitioners, researchers, and academics engaged in social work.

We think of cults as bizarre, inexplicable, or otherworldly places that only strange people inhabit, but cults and other abusive and high-demand groups (and relationships) are actually quite commonplace. In fact, the behaviors, social pressures, and authoritarian structures that create cults exist to a greater or lesser extent in every human relationship and every human group. In the first in-depth research of its kind, the author interviewed sixty-five people who were born in or grew up in thirty-nine different cultic groups spanning more than a dozen countries. What’s especially interesting about these individuals is that they each left the cult on their own, without outside help or internal support. In Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over, the authors craft Lalich’s original and groundbreaking research into an accessible and engaging book, the first of its kind focusing on this particular population.