While research on religious beliefs as an adjustment is on the rise, less is known regarding such process following stillbirth and no study has been conducted on a sample of Moroccan women.

The aim of the present study is to extend the current literature by:

– identifying a typology of Moroccan women who experienced stillbirth based on several dimension of religious coping strategies;

– examining whether these profile differ on grief, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) symptoms.

One hundred Moroccan women who experienced stillbirth were recruited through a Moroccan public hospital. At 6 weeks following stillbirth, they completed questionnaires assessing Religious Coping Strategies (RCS), PTSD, PTG, anxious and grief symptoms.

Five clusters were identified: one with high level of plead and religious avoidance coping strategies, one with high level of interpersonal coping strategies, one with multiple religious coping strategies, one with discontent religious coping strategies and one with low religious coping strategies. High levels of psychological symptoms were found in the 5 cluster and PTG symptomatology was as associated with increased RCS.

Our findings suggest that, while religious beliefs and practices as a coping strategy do not protect from short-term psychopathological symptoms in the immediate aftermath of stillbirth, they play an important role in the development of positive reactions. As PTG symptoms have been reported be a protective factor for long term psychiatric symptomatology further longitudinal studies focusing in this area is warranted.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Intrusive traumatic reminiscences are among the most distressing and salient characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Associated with involuntary onsets, emotional disturbances and consciousness-related impairments, such symptoms suggest that memory functioning could be impaired in PTSD. While there is a growing body of research on experimental assessments of memory in patients with PTSD, inconsistent results remain.

Using an experimental methodology, this study aims to measure memory in PTSD in consideration of central features of intrusive symptoms, especially emotional, inhibitory and consciousness-related memory impairments.

34 patients diagnosed with PTSD were compared with 37 non-PTSD controls on an item-cued directed forgetting paradigm for emotional words combined with a remember/know recognition procedure.

Results confirmed prior findings of an increased and peculiarly conscious recognition of trauma-related words in PTSD. Interestingly, our results showed that, despite general memory inhibitory deficits, PTSD patients, if requested, presented a preserved ability to inhibit this improved recollection of trauma-related words.

While our findings highlight a biased memory functioning in favour of threatening stimuli in PTSD, inhibitory deficits for such information was not reported to play a role on this effect. Conversely, it seems that instead of inhibitory deficits, patients presented a preferential treatment of threat concordant with vigilant-avoidant models of information processing. Focusing on memory impairment in treatment for PTSD appears of prime importance. Our findings regarding preserved inhibitory skills for threat memories in the disorder could be an interesting clue for therapeutic interventions on intrusive symptoms.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.