European Journal of Psychotraumatology (Dec 2020)

Screening for consequences of trauma – an update on the global collaboration on traumatic stress

  • Miranda Olff,
  • Anne Bakker,
  • Paul Frewen,
  • Helene Aakvaag,
  • Dean Ajdukovic,
  • Douglas Brewer,
  • Diane L. Elmore Borbon,
  • Marylène Cloitre,
  • Philip Hyland,
  • Nancy Kassam-Adams,
  • Matthias Knefel,
  • Juliana A. Lanza,
  • Brigitte Lueger-Schuster,
  • Angela Nickerson,
  • Misari Oe,
  • Monique C. Pfaltz,
  • Carolina Salgado,
  • Soraya Seedat,
  • Anne Wagner,
  • Ulrich Schnyder,
  • Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress (GC-TS)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1752504
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1

Abstract

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This letter provides an update on the activities of “The Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress” (GC-TS) as first described by Schnyder et al. in 2017. It presents in further detail the projects of the first theme, in particular the development of and initial data on the Global Psychotrauma Screen (GPS), a brief instrument designed to screen for the wide range of potential outcomes of trauma. English language data and ongoing studies in several languages provide a first indication that the GPS is a feasible, reliable and valid tool, a tool that may be very useful in the current pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Further multi-language and cross-cultural validation is needed. Since the start of the GC-TS, new themes have been introduced to focus on in the coming years: a) Forcibly displaced persons, b) Global prevalence of stress and trauma related disorders, c) Socio-emotional development across cultures, and d) Collaborating to make traumatic stress research data “FAIR”. The most recent theme added is that of Global crises, currently focusing on COVID-19-related projects.

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