Presidential Voice

By: Sylvia Marotta-Walters, PhD

A Timely Convention Program

It’s almost convention time and we have an excellent program awaiting us as participants in the Division’s August annual meeting in Chicago! In the last edition of our newsletter, I wrote about the multiplicity of potentially traumatic experiences (PTE’s) that we read and view daily in popular media. I am excited to report that this year’s convention program has some innovative ways to address PTEs, presented by scientists, practitioners, and policy makers among others. Our division’s membership is diverse, committed, and willing to share their expertise with each of us in Chicago. Let’s make it a great meeting. Read Full Article

Editor's Note

By: Jonathan Cleveland, PhD

Dear TPN reader,

Welcome to our summer issue. Below, you will find a directory of Division 56 programming as well as the hospitality suite schedule for the upcoming convention.  Next, we present an intriguing feature article on romantic relationships between educators and high school students by authors Nunez, Grant, Ambrose, Tencza, and Dalenberg.  In the multicultural section, Dr. Ani Kalayjian discusses a mental health outreach project to the Niger Delta.  Later, you will find Dr. Omewha Beaton’s review of the edited volume, PTSD and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Vasterling, Bryant, & Keane, 2012).  In our student section, we have included a literature review by Ms. Kayleigh Watters on a commonly used sexual assault measure.  You will also find a discussion of a recent ATOP Meaningful World event... Full Article

Featured Article

Prevalence and Prevention of Romantic and Sexual Relationships between High School Students and Educators

Using international statistics, up to 17% of boys and up to 33.8% of girls of girls are victims of child sexual abuse (CSA), making CSA a global concern (Barth, Bermetz, Heim, Trelle, & Tonia, 2013; Bouvier et al., 1999). While research suggests that CSA contributes to negative effects in a range of functional domains (e.g., social, psychological, and sexual), definitional ambiguity continues to plague researchers. Given that context influences a particular victim’s perception of sexual contact, identification of types of behaviors (e.g., fondling, intercourse-only, non-contact abuse) in varying domains (e.g., school, parish, home) that reliably relate to negative mental health outcomes poses a challenge. Full Article

Multicultural & Diversity

Ani Kalayjian

The Federal Republic of Nigeria, commonly referred to as Nigeria, is a federal republic in West Africa, bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Its coast in the south is located on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The federation comprises 36 States and 1 Federal Capital Territory, where the capital Abuja is located. Nigeria is officially a democratic secular country, founded on October 01, 1960, with a population of 174.51 million (per 2013 reports) and GDP of 4397.47 Billion USD (per 2018 reports). Although English is the official language in the country, Nigeria’s large population is responsible for its linguistic diversity which is like a microcosm of Africa as a whole. Despite the efforts made by the Nigerian government and international groups, Nigeria is still in great need of emotional healing. Full Article

Book Review

Review By:
Omewha Beaton, PhD

Vasterling, J. J., Bryant, R. A., & Keane, T. M. (Eds.). (2012). PTSD and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. New York, NY: Guilford Press (308 pages) ISBN-13: 978-1462503384 ISBN-10: 1462503381 ($60 hardback). 

PTSD and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, edited by Vasterling, Bryant, and Keane, is a comprehensive compilation of works by leading experts in the fields of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). PTSD and mTBI have garnered enhanced interest from the scientific community over recent years... Full Article

Student Spotlight

Kayleigh Watters, MA

Sexual assault can be a life-changing traumatic event that can lead to posttraumatic stress or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Smith & Pick, 2015). In one undergraduate sample, 22% of students reported experiencing sexual assault at some point during college (Mellins et al., 2017). The #MeToo movement has increased awareness of the impact of sexual violence (MeToo, 2018). However, for many, sexual assault assessments are still a difficult medium in which to disclose their experiences (Cook et al., 2011). In this literature review, I examine one assessment measure of sexual victimization... Full Article

Announcements

Dr. Daria Diakonova-Curtis, Dr. Ani Kalayjian, & Dr. Leslie Popoff

The 63^rd session of the United Nations (UN) Commission of the Status of Women  gathered thousands of community leaders, non-profit organization participants and activists to New York City from over 193 countries to discuss issues pertaining to this year’s priority theme: social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. On March 12, 2019, the Association for Trauma Outreach & Prevention (ATOP) Meaningfulworld was honored to present a parallel event, titled “Women at the Frontier: Healing, Empowering and Nurturing Mindful Leaders.” This parallel event took the form of a panel discussion with speakers whom have been promoting gender equality... Full Article