Alison Rhodes

Yoga as an adjunctive treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND More than a third of the approximately 10 million women with histories of interpersonal violence in the United States develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Currently available treatments for this population have a high rate of incomplete response, in part because problems in affect and impulse regulation are major obstacles to resolving PTSD. This study explored the efficacy of yoga to increase affect tolerance and to decrease PTSD symptomatology. METHOD Sixty-four women with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD were randomly assigned to either trauma-informed yoga or supportive womens health education, each as a weekly 1-hour class for 10 weeks. Assessments were conducted at pretreatment, midtreatment, and posttreatment and included measures of DSM-IV PTSD, affect regulation, and depression. The study ran from 2008 through 2011. RESULTS The primary outcome measure was the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). At the end of the study, 16 of 31 participants (52%) in the yoga group no longer met criteria for PTSD compared to 6 of 29 (21%) in the control group (n = 60, χ²₁ = 6.17, P = .013). Both groups exhibited significant decreases on the CAPS, with the decrease falling in the large effect size range for the yoga group (d = 1.07) and the medium to large effect size decrease for the control group (d = 0.66). Both the yoga (b = -9.21, t = -2.34, P = .02, d = -0.37) and control (b = -22.12, t = -3.39, P = .001, d = -0.54) groups exhibited significant decreases from pretreatment to the midtreatment assessment. However, a significant group × quadratic trend interaction (d = -0.34) showed that the pattern of change in Davidson Trauma Scale significantly differed across groups. The yoga group exhibited a significant medium effect size linear (d = -0.52) trend. In contrast, the control group exhibited only a significant medium effect size quadratic trend (d = 0.46) but did not exhibit a significant linear trend (d = -0.29). Thus, both groups exhibited significant decreases in PTSD symptoms during the first half of treatment, but these improvements were maintained in the yoga group, while the control group relapsed after its initial improvement. DISCUSSION Yoga significantly reduced PTSD symptomatology, with effect sizes comparable to well-researched psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacologic approaches. Yoga may improve the functioning of traumatized individuals by helping them to tolerate physical and sensory experiences associated with fear and helplessness and to increase emotional awareness and affect tolerance. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00839813.

Effect of Inpatient Palliative Care on Quality of Life 2 Weeks After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance During hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), patients receive high-dose chemotherapy before transplantation and experience significant physical and psychological symptoms and poor quality of life (QOL). Objective To assess the effect of inpatient palliative care on patient- and caregiver-reported outcomes during hospitalization for HCT and 3 months after transplantation. Design, Setting, and Participants Nonblinded randomized clinical trial among 160 adults with hematologic malignancies undergoing autologous/allogeneic HCT and their caregivers (n = 94). The study was conducted from August 2014 to January 2016 in a Boston hospital; follow-up was completed in May 2016. Interventions Patients assigned to the intervention (n=81) were seen by palliative care clinicians at least twice a week during HCT hospitalization; the palliative intervention was focused on management of physical and psychological symptoms. Patients assigned to standard transplant care (n=79) could be seen by palliative care clinicians on request. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary: change in patient QOL from baseline to week 2; secondary: patient-assessed mood, fatigue, and symptom burden scores at baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after HCT and caregiver-assessed QOL and mood at baseline and 2 weeks after HCT. Results Among 160 enrolled patients (mean age, 60 [SD, 13.3] years; 91 women [56.9%]; median hospital stay, 21 days) and 94 caregivers, 157 (98.1%) and 89 (94.7%), respectively, completed 2-week follow-up, and 149 patients (93.1%) completed 3-month follow-up. Patients in the intervention group reported a smaller decrease in QOL from baseline to week 2 (mean baseline score, 110.26; week 2 score, 95.46; mean change, -14.72) compared with patients in the control group (mean baseline score, 106.83; week 2 score, 85.42; mean change, -21.54; difference between groups, -6.82; 95% CI, -13.48 to -0.16; P = .045). Among the secondary outcomes, from baseline to week 2, patients in the intervention group vs those in the control group had less increase in depression (mean, 2.43 vs 3.94; mean difference, 1.52; 95% CI, 0.23-2.81; P = .02), lower anxiety (mean, -0.80 vs 1.12; mean difference, 1.92; 95% CI, 0.83-3.01; P < .001), no difference in fatigue (mean, -10.30 vs -13.65; mean difference, -3.34; 95% CI, -7.25 to 0.56; P = .09), and less increase in symptom burden (mean, 17.35 vs 23.14; mean difference, 5.80; 95% CI, 0.49-11.10; P = .03). At 3 months after HCT, intervention patients vs control patients had higher QOL scores (mean, 112.00 vs 106.66; mean difference, 5.34; 95% CI, 0.04-10.65; P = .048) and less depression symptoms (mean, 3.49 vs 5.19; mean difference, -1.70; 95% CI, -2.75 to -0.65; P = .002) but no significant differences in anxiety, fatigue, or symptom burden. From baseline to week 2 after HCT, caregivers of patients in the intervention group vs caregivers of patients in the control group reported no significant differences in QOL or anxiety but had a smaller increase in depression (mean, 0.25 vs 1.80; mean difference, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.14-2.96; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance Among adults at a single institution undergoing HCT for hematologic malignancy, the use of inpatient palliative care compared with standard transplant care resulted in a smaller decrease in QOL 2 weeks after transplantation. Further research is needed for replication and to assess longer-term outcomes and cost implications. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02207322.

Application of Yoga in Residential Treatment of Traumatized Youth

Background: The Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute has adapted a form of Hatha yoga into a trauma-sensitive adjunctive component of intervention for use with complexly traumatized individuals exhibiting chronic affective and somatic dysregulation and associated behavioral, functioning, and health complaints. Objectives: This article explores the use of yoga with traumatized youth (aged 12-21 years) in residential treatment. Design: A review of the literature on the somatic impact of trauma exposure provides a rationale for the use of yoga with this population and highlights an emerging evidence base in support of this practice. Case vignettes illustrate the integration of structured, gentle yoga practices into residential programming for youth with severe emotional and behavioral problems. Results: Anecdotal data and clinical observation underscore the promise of yoga as a viable approach to build self-regulatory capacity of traumatized youth. Conclusions: Future directions in the development and evaluation of trauma-informed yoga practices for youth are discussed.

Posttraumatic Growth Among Men With Histories of Child Sexual Abuse

Despite an increased risk of long-term mental health problems, many survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) experience positive changes in areas such as appreciation for life, personal strength, and interpersonal relationships. Drawing on life course theory, this study examined factors related to posttraumatic growth among a sample of men with CSA histories (N = 487). Using multiple linear regression (i.e., ordinary least squares), we found that men who had a better understanding of the sexual abuse experience, who ascribed to less traditional masculine norms, and who experienced a turning point reported greater growth. To promote growth, practitioners can help survivors understand the meaning and impact of the abuse on their lives and deconstruct rigid gender norms. More research on growth is needed with male survivors, especially on the nature of turning points in the recovery process.

Fostering Resilience among Youth in Inner City Community Arts Centers: The Case of the Artists Collective

Growing up in an inner city environment can inhibit healthy development and have detrimental consequences for children and adolescents such as increased risks for many social and psychological problems. This article explores the role of community arts centers in fostering resilience among youth living in the inner city. A review of the literature of risk factors associated with growing up in an inner city environment provides a rationale for the need for interventions that promote resilience by creating a refuge from the surrounding poverty and violence, and which strengthen youth’s personal and social resources. We examine the case of the Artists Collective, an inner city community arts center in Hartford, Connecticut, and propose that there are three components of community arts centers that contribute to youths’ resilience. First, features of the physical space promote resilience. Second, they are a place where prosocial relationships and social capital contributing to resilient functioning can be formed. Finally, we hypothesize that learning about and participating in the arts fosters resilience through the development of person-level protective factors such as self-efficacy, improved emotional regulation, social skills, coping skills, and ethnic pride.

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Understanding of Men’s Healing From Childhood Maltreatment

Purpose: To describe and interpret men’s experience of healing from childhood maltreatment. Design: Hermeneutic phenomenological. Method: In-depth interviews. Community-based purposive, maximum variation sampling approach. Recruitment occurred through posting flyers and advertisements. Verbatim data were analyzed and themes of the meaning of healing were identified. Findings: The meaning of healing was interpreted as “moving beyond suffering.” Five themes were identified to capture the multidimensional nature of the phenomenon: (a) breaking through the masculine veneer, (b) finding meaning, (c) choosing to live well, (d) caring for the self using holistic healing methods, and (e) engaging in humanizing relationships. Conclusions: Men who survived childhood maltreatment have needs to heal holistically mind, body, and spirit. Meeting their needs requires the provision of highly compassionate humanistic healing environments and healing-promotive nursing care.

Dance in Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning

Abstract Dance is often positioned in contrast to more “academic” disciplines. Its marginalized status in pre-collegiate education means that it is too often absent from schooling. When taught at all, it is often used for the purpose of increasing student engagement or advancing understanding in another subject. In such a role, the standards, concepts, and methods of dance are not usually upheld. An alternative approach to combining dance with another subject can be found in interdisciplinary learning where dance and another discipline are brought together, with each discipline equally valued for its contribution to understanding a complex topic. The two disciplines come together to complement and challenge each other, and to provide insights into a multifaceted phenomenon that cannot adequately be understood through a single disciplinary perspective. This article introduces a framework for interdisciplinary teaching and learning, grounds it in a portrait of practice at the intersection of dance and anthropology, and explores the role of dance in this type of integration. Simply stated, interdisciplinary education, as proposed here, provides unique opportunities for learning about dance as well as through dance.

Randomized trial of inpatient palliative care in patients hospitalized for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT).

103 Background: During HCT, patients experience physical and psychological symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life (QOL). We assessed the impact of an inpatient palliative care intervention on patient QOL, symptom burden, and mood during HCT hospitalization and at 3 months post-HCT. METHODS We randomized 160 patients with hematologic malignancies admitted for autologous or allogeneic HCT to an inpatient palliative care intervention (n=81) integrated with transplant care compared to transplant care alone (n=79). We used the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant (FACT-BMT) to assess QOL, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess mood, and Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) to measure symptoms at baseline, week-2, and 3 months post-HCT. We measured post-traumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms using the PTSD checklist at baseline and 3 months post-HCT. We used linear regression models controlling for baseline values to assess the intervention effects on outcomes at week-2 and 3 months post-HCT. RESULTS Between 8/2014 and 1/2016, we enrolled 160/186 (86%) of potentially eligible patients. At week-2, the intervention led to improvements in QOL, depression, anxiety, and symptom burden. At 3 months post-HCT, the intervention led to improvements in QOL, depression, and PTSD [Table 1]. PHQ-9 scores at week-2 and HADS-anxiety scores at 3 months did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS Palliative care improved QOL, depression, anxiety, and symptom burden in patients hospitalized for HCT with notable sustained effects 3 months post-HCT. Involvement of palliative care for patients with hematologic malignancies can improve their outcomes and substantially reduce the morbidity of HCT. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION NCT02207322. [Table: see text].

Measurement Equivalence of Seven Selected Items of Posttraumatic Growth between Black and White Adult Survivors of Hurricane Katrina

This study examined the equivalence or comparability of the measurement properties of seven selected items measuring posttraumatic growth among self-identified Black (n = 270) and White (n = 707) adult survivors of Hurricane Katrina, using data from the Baseline Survey of the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group Study. Internal consistency reliability was equally good for both groups (Cronbachs alphas = .79), as were correlations between individual scale items and their respective overall scale. Confirmatory factor analysis of a congeneric measurement model of seven selected items of posttraumatic growth showed adequate measures of fit for both groups. The results showed only small variation in magnitude of factor loadings and measurement errors between the two samples. Tests of measurement invariance showed mixed results, but overall indicated that factor loading, error variance, and factor variance were similar between the two samples. These seven selected items can be useful for future large-scale surveys of posttraumatic growth.