On the path to recovery: traumatic stress research during the COVID-19 pandemic 2021–2023 Translated title: En camino hacia la recuperación: Investigaciones sobre Estrés traumático durante la pandemia de COVID-19 2021–2023

ABSTRACT

This Special Issue of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT) presents 51 articles published between 2021 and 2023 and follows the Special Issue on pandemic-related traumatic stress research published in 2021 (O'Donnell, M. L., & Greene, T. [2021]. Understanding the mental health impacts of COVID-19 through a trauma lens. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1982502). Research on traumatic stress during the pandemic has cast the spotlight on vulnerable populations and groups, notably front-line healthcare workers; people faced with major losses including the deaths of loved ones; those who personally survived debilitating and often life-threatening viral infection; and students who were isolated and experienced profound delays in their education, relationships, and emerging independence. The papers in this collection underscore the associations between COVID-19 related stressors and a plethora of adverse mental health sequelae, including posttraumatic stress reactions, and draw attention to the ubiquity of grief and moral injury and their wide-ranging and detrimental impact. Currently, there is a paucity of evidence on interventions to enhance resources, self-efficacy, and hope for affected groups and individuals through societal, organisational, and healthcare systems; however early research on the prevention of COVID-related traumatic stress disorders provides a basis for both hope and preparedness for the future.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Stressors and traumatic events occurring due to the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with a wide range of mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress reactions, especially among vulnerable groups (e.g., front-line healthcare workers, individuals who faced major losses such as the deaths of loved ones, those who survived debilitating and often life-threatening infection).

• Loss and moral injury are common and potentially debilitating features of the pandemic.

• Societal, organisational, and healthcare system interventions to enhance resources, efficacy, and hope for affected groups and individuals are still in the early stages, although preliminary research on the prevention of COVID-related traumatic stress disorders is promising.

Translated abstract

En este número especial de la Revista Europea de Psicotraumatología (EJPT, por sus siglas en inglés) se presentan 51 artículos publicados entre el 2021 y 2023, y le continúa al número especial sobre las investigaciones acerca del estrés traumático relacionado con la pandemia, publicado en el 2021 (O'Donnell, M. L., & Greene, T. [2021]. Understanding the mental health impacts of COVID-19 through a trauma lens. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1982502). Las investigaciones sobre el estrés traumático durante la pandemia se han enfocado en las poblaciones y grupos vulnerables, en particular en los trabajadores sanitarios de primera línea; las personas que enfrentaron pérdidas importantes, incluidas las muertes de sus seres queridos; aquellos que sobrevivieron personalmente una infección viral debilitante y, a menudo, potencialmente mortal; y a estudiantes que se encontraban aislados y experimentaron profundos retrasos en su educación, relaciones interpersonales y en su independencia emergente. Los artículos de esta colección subrayan las asociaciones entre los factores estresantes relacionados con COVID-19 y una plétora de secuelas adversas para la salud mental, incluidas las reacciones de estrés postraumático, y llaman la atención sobre la ubicuidad del duelo y el daño moral, su amplio espectro y el impacto perjudicial que representa. Actualmente, existe una escasez en la evidencia relacionada a intervenciones que busquen mejorar los recursos, la autoeficacia y la esperanza de los grupos e individuos afectados a través de sistemas sociales, organizacionales y de salud; sin embargo, las primeras investigaciones sobre la prevención de los trastornos de estrés traumático relacionados con COVID proporcionan una base tanto para la esperanza como para la preparación para el futuro.