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Background: The coronavirus pandemic appears to put psychiatric patients with pre-existing symptomatology at risk of symptom increase, but evidence is scarce. While the pandemic and stringent governmental measures have accelerated the use of clinical videoconferencing (VCT), patient satisfaction with VCT is unclear. Objective: Aim of the study was to assess the wellbeing of patients in psychotrauma treatment during the coronavirus pandemic and to evaluate their use of and satisfaction with VCT. Method: This study used data from a routine outcome monitoring assessment completed by patients in treatment at a specialized psychotrauma institute and administered before the easing of governmental measures in June 2020. Wellbeing (Brief Symptom Inventory, Cantril Ladder, perceived stress level, and symptom change), VCT use and VCT satisfaction, and their association with demographic variables (gender, age, education level, and refugee status) were analysed. Results: Of the 318 respondents (response rate 64.5%), 139 (43.7%) reported a symptom increase, which was associated with a higher coronavirus-related stress level and general psychopathology as well as lower life satisfaction. There were significant effects of age and education level on wellbeing. VCT was reported to have been used by 228 (71.7%) patients. VCT satisfaction ratings were higher among women and those with lower levels of stress (r = −.20, p, HIGHLIGHTS The coronavirus pandemic may aggravate existing mental health problems and has quickened the implementation of clinical videoconferencing (VCT).In this study, the majority of patients in treatment for psychotrauma felt worse during the corona crisis, but VCT offered some relief.

Effects of emotional experience on sleep depend on circadian phase

In the Netherlands, 81% of the general population experiences at least one potentially traumatic event in their life, such as a traffic accident, assault, rape, or disaster. Around 7% of people fulfill the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder at some point during their life. Certain details of the traumatic experience, such as the rifle of a gun, are remembered extensively by these survivors and may continue to show up in their mind in forms of flashbacks and nightmares, accompanied by intense emotions. Other details seem to have less priority in information processing and are easily forgotten, such as the order in which the events happened. Because of the continued focus on danger, less capacity is available for daily memory functioning. The aim of this thesis is to investigate these "traces" engraved by a traumatic experience in memory and to examine how they are amenable to change by psychological therapy.

Research about attentional functioning following trauma has almost exclusively been performed in patient populations with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study the relationship between sustained attention and PTSD symptoms was examined in a community sample of survivors of a major disaster using the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and the Self- Rating Scale for PTSD (SRS-PTSD) 2–3 years postdisaster. Analyses revealed low but significant partial correlations between PTSD symptoms and the least difficult subtests, ruling out the effects of age, education, depressive symptomatology, and sleep disturbances. These results demonstrate that PTSD symptoms link to attentional dysfunction 2–3 years postdisaster.