Adding to the burden: the tendency to resonate with others' stress is linked to higher PTSD symptom severity in individuals with war-related trauma.

Many refugees experience multiple traumatic events, which set them at increased risk to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To refine interventions aimed at improving refugees' mental health, a better understanding of the factors modulating vulnerability to war-related trauma is needed. In the present study, we focused on stress resonance as a potential vulnerability factor.

Support or stress? How attachment and relationship dynamics associate with acute psychosocial stress in the presence of the romantic partner.

Stress is a wide-spread phenomenon and associated with various detrimental health effects. A significant resource for stress buffering is social support. How social support is perceived, however, depends on a multitude of individual and interindividual factors.

Reflections on the study of empathy in a sample of refugees and migrants from Arabic-speaking countries with diverse experiences of war-related trauma.

Empathic abilities are proposed to affect the trajectory from trauma exposure to psychopathology. Yet, studies addressing the role of empathy in refugees with diverse experiences of war-related trauma are lacking. This may relate to missing recommendations on aspects to consider in the planning and execution of such a study.

Attachment and inter-individual differences in empathy, compassion, and theory of mind abilities.

Social processing, namely the ability to understand others' cognitive and affective states, is crucial for successful social interaction. It encompasses socio-affective abilities such as empathy and compassion, as well as socio-cognitive abilities such as theory of mind (ToM). This study examined the link between social processing and attachment.

Evidence for differential associations of distinct trait mindfulness facets with acute and chronic stress.

Stress and stress-associated disease are considered the health epidemic of the 21st century. Interestingly, despite experiencing similar amounts of stress than those falling ill, some individuals are protected against the "wear and tear of daily life". Based on the notion that mindfulness training strengthens stress resilience, we explored whether facets of trait mindfulness, prior to training intervention, are linked to acute psychosocial stress reactivity and chronic stress load.

Compassion buffers the association between trauma exposure and PTSD symptom severity: Findings of a cross-sectional study.

To advance intervention science dedicated to improve refugees' mental health, a better understanding of factors of risk and resilience involved in the etiology and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is needed. In the present study, we tested whether empathy and compassion, two trainable aspects of social cognition related to health, would modulate risk for PTSD after war-related trauma. Fifty-six refugees and 42 migrants from Arabic-speaking countries reported on their trauma experiences, PTSD symptoms, and perceived trait empathy and compassion.

You look stressed: A pilot study on facial action unit activity in the context of psychosocial stress.

Quality and quantity of the human stress response are highly individual. Not only are there differences in terms of psychological and physiological stress reactivity, but also with regard to facial muscle stress reactivity. In a first correlative pilot study to decipher the signature of stress as it presents in the physiognomy of a stressed individual, we investigated how stress-induced muscle movement activity in the face is associated with stress marker activation during a standardized laboratory stress test.