Department of Psychology
Current Projects
- Understanding The Etiology of Perinatal Mental Health Problems in A Context of Trauma and Adversity
Parzheen Mohammad, MSc.
Dr. Sarah Wilker, PhDThis DFG funded project investigates how various trauma-related risk factors affect perinatal mental health in a large cohort of women in Iraq, using qualitative and quantitative approaches. The long-term goal of this project is to develop a trauma-informed treatment manual tailored to this population.
- One size fits all? From a randomized controlled trial towards individualized treatment recommendations for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in post-conflict settings (TRAUMA-FIT)
In war-affected countries, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents a major mental health problem. Accumulating evidence indicates, that next to the individual trauma history, relevant contextual factors of the social and societal environment, as well as ongoing stressors and adversity play a major role in PTSD development and its treatment after war and conflict. While trauma-focused psychotherapy is recommended as first-line treatment for PTSD, the individual treatment effects vary strongly, and a substantial number of individuals do not benefit from this type of treatment. This high treatment-effect heterogeneity for PTSD indicates that an individual allocation of treatments could lead to improved treatment outcomes. This is especially important in war-affected countries with limited resources for mental health care. Against this background, the present project aims to conduct a large precision mental health trial on effective treatment options for PTSD in the post-conflict region of Northern Uganda. A total number of N = 660 individuals will be randomized to the two arms of the trial: Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), a trauma-focused short-term intervention, and Problem Management + (PM+), a present-centered intervention that aims to facilitate coping with current stress. Importantly, both treatments have been effectively implemented by local health workers in low-resource settings. Employing machine learning, the optimal treatment condition for each individual will be determined based on a set of individual predictors and relevant social and societal context factors. In the next step, the performance of the algorithm will be evaluated by comparing mean treatment effects and rates of clinically significant changes between individuals who received their optimal versus sub-optimal treatment condition. All in all, the project will provide knowledge on relevant predictors of treatment success in trauma-focused versus present-centered interventions for PTSD patients. Furthermore, knowledge regarding treatment personalization and optimal utilization of treatment resources in post-conflict settings will be generated.
Team
Projectteam
Dr. rer. nat. Sarah Wilker, Dipl.-Psych., licensed psychotherapist, Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, Bielefeld University
Dr. Hannah Ihme
Contact person for any questions
Sarah Wilker
sarah.wilker@uni-bielefeld.de
Cooperating Partners
PD Dr. phil. Naser Morina, University of Zurich
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)- The psycho-physiology of social traumatization
Child maltreatment refers to various forms of abusive and potentially harmful parenting that threatens the healthy development of a child. Most of this research refers to the consequences of physical abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect or combinations of these types of maltreatment. Second to traumatic events that involve a threat to life and limb, it is aversive social experiences that can be detrimental for mental health. Traumatic social experiences include emotional abuse and neglect by caretakers as well as relational peer victimization. Recently, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates that experiences of emotional maltreatment increase the risk of various forms of psychopathology.
In several studies it has been shown that the regulation of stress responses can be altered by psychopathology and adverse childhood experiences. However, research examining alterations in the physiological responses to stress in subjects with a history of emotional maltreatment is still scarce. Additionally, to date it is unknown whether the processing of threatening cues in emotional maltreated individuals underlies the same mechanisms as the information processing in victims of physical and sexual abuse where the formation of associative memory representations has been suggested.
In the current project we aim to disclose psycho-physiological consequences of emotional maltreatment and to reveal underlying mechanisms that may link emotional maltreatment to psychopathology. In particular, in a series of studies we investigate reactivity to social stressors on different physiological (EEG, ECG, SCL, EMG) and experiential parameters as a function of levels of child maltreatment and diagnostic status of various psychiatric disorders.
Contact person: Dr. Benjamin IfflandRecent publications
- Blauth, K., & Iffland, B. (2024). Attentional processes in response to emotional facial expressions in adults with retrospectively reported peer victimization of varying severity: Results from an ERP dot-probe study. BMC Psychology, 12(1), 459.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01958-5 - Iffland, B., Kley, H., & Neuner, F. (2024). Effects of peer victimization on cortical processing of social-evaluative stress in patients with major depressive disorder. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 19(1), nsae037.
https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsae037 - Blauth, K., & Iffland, B. (2023). Attentional bias for sad facial expressions in adults with a history of peer victimization. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1127381.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1127381 - Iffland, B., Kley, H., & Neuner, F. (2023). Distinct physiological responses to social-evaluative stress in patients with major depressive disorder reporting a history of peer victimization. Biological Psychology, 108697.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108697 - Iffland, B., & Neuner, F. (2022). Peer Victimization Influences Attention Processing Beyond the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment by Caregivers. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 784147.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.784147 - Iffland, B., Klein, F., Schindler, S., Kley, H., & Neuner, F. (2021). “She finds you abhorrent” - The impact of emotional context information on the cortical processing of neutral faces in depression. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 21(2), 426–444.
https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-021-00877-x - Klein, F., Iffland, B., Schindler, S., Wabnitz, P., & Neuner, F. (2015). This person is saying bad things about you: The influence of physically and socially threatening context information on the processing of inherently neutral faces. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience , 1-13.
- Sansen, L., Iffland, B., & Neuner, F. (2015) The trauma of peer victimization: Psychophysiological and emotional characteristics of memory imagery in subjects with social anxiety disorder, Psychophysiology, 52 (1), 107-116.
- Iffland, B., Sansen, L., & Neuner, F., (2014) Rapid heartbeat, but dry palms: reactions of heart rate and skin conductance levels to social rejection, Frontiers in Psychology ,5: 956.
- Iffland, B., Sansen, L., Catani, C., & Neuner, F., (2014) The trauma of peer abuse: Effects of relational peer victimization and social anxiety disorder on physiological and affective reactions to social exclusion, Frontiers in Psychiatry , 5:26.
- Sansen, L., Iffland, B., & Neuner, F. (2014) Peer victimization predicts psychological symptoms beyond the effects of child maltreatment, Psychiatry Research , 220, 1051-1058.
- Sansen, L., Iffland, B., Catani, C., & Neuner, F. (2013) Die Bedeutung aversiver sozialer Erfahrungen in Familie und Peergroup für die Entwicklung sozialer Ängste, Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie , 42, 34-44.
- Iffland, B., Sansen, L., Catani, C., & Neuner, F. (2012). Emotional but not physical maltreatment is independently related to psychopathology in subjects with various degrees of social anxiety: a web-based Internet survey. BMC Psychiatry , 12:49.
- Wabnitz, P., Martens, U., & Neuner, F. (2012). Cortical reactions to verbal abuse: Event-related brain potentials reflecting the processing of socially threatening words. NeuroReport . 23(13), 774-779.
- Blauth, K., & Iffland, B. (2024). Attentional processes in response to emotional facial expressions in adults with retrospectively reported peer victimization of varying severity: Results from an ERP dot-probe study. BMC Psychology, 12(1), 459.
- NETinPakistan: Translating and Implementing Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) in Pakistan
The Pakistani population presents with disproportionately high rates of trauma-related mental health problems as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders resulting in a high need for treatment. The project aims to address the high prevalence of trauma-related disorders in Pakistan by disseminating Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), an evidence-based intervention tailored for low-resource settings. A comprehensive Urdu-language NET training curriculum will be developed through a collaborative process involving mental health professionals, community members, and experienced NET trainers. The project employs a train-the-trainer model to build local capacity and ensure sustainability, with an initial cohort of 25 psychologists undergoing intensive NET training and supervision. Additionally, the 25 psychologists will be trained as master trainers who will then be able to disseminate the intervention to mental health providers, lay counselors, and community health workers across Pakistan. By establishing a culturally adapted, evidence-based intervention for trauma-related disorders in Pakistan, this project has the potential to make a significant impact on mental health outcomes in the region and serve as a model for similar initiatives in other low- and middle-income countries.
Funded by the GIZ funding program Hospital Partnerships
Team
Projectteam
Contact person for any questions
Benjamin Iffland
benjamin.iffland@uni-bielefeld.de
Telefon: +49 521 106 4491
Cooperating Partners
Dr. Alaptagin Khan (https://www.mcleanhospital.org/profile/alaptagin-khan)
Dr. Abdul Wahab Yousafzai
Dr. Abdul Wahab Hassan
- Trauma, Mental Health, and Mental Health Care for People with Disabilities
People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by violence, abuse, neglect, and other potentially traumatic life events, with the highest rates of victimization often reported among individuals with disorders of intellectual development. Our research focuses on understanding the individual, social, and structural factors that contribute to this heightened vulnerability and its impact on mental health and wellbeing. We develop, adapt, and evaluate trauma-focused assessment tools and psychological interventions for people with disorders of intellectual development, while also considering the needs of individuals with other disabilities, such as sensory impairments. In close collaboration with our outpatient clinic, we translate research findings into clinical practice and develop and evaluate more inclusive approaches to mental health care, including the adaptation and implementation of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). We also investigate barriers to mental health care and identify ways to improve access to evidence-based psychological support for people with disabilities.