Kidnapping and Mental Health in Iraqi Refugees: The Role of Resilience

Overview

Journal J Immigr Minor Health

Publisher Springer

Specialties Public Health
Social Sciences

Date 2016 Jan 20

PMID 26781328

Citations 15

Authors

A Michelle Wright

Yousif R Talia

Abir Aldhalimi

Carissa L Broadbridge

Hikmet Jamil

Mark A Lumley

Nnamdi Pole

Bengt B Arnetz

Judith E Arnetz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Although kidnapping is common in war-torn countries, there is little research examining its psychological effects. Iraqi refugees (N = 298) were assessed upon arrival to the U.S. and 1 year later. At arrival, refugees were asked about prior trauma exposure, including kidnapping. One year later refugees were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression disorder (MDD) using the SCID-I. Individual resilience and narratives of the kidnapping were also assessed. Twenty-six refugees (9 %) reported being kidnapped. Compared to those not kidnapped, those who were had a higher prevalence of PTSD, but not MDD, diagnoses. Analyses examining kidnapping victims revealed that higher resilience was associated with lower rates of PTSD. Narratives of the kidnapping were also discussed. This study suggests kidnapping is associated with PTSD, but not MDD. Additionally, kidnapping victims without PTSD reported higher individual resilience. Future studies should further elucidate risk and resilience mechanisms.

Citing Articles

The psychological impact of genocide on the Yazidis.

Kizilhan J, Berger T, Sennhauser L, Wenzel T Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1074283.

PMID: 37063562 PMC: 10090394. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1074283.

Prevalence of mental disorders in refugees and asylum seekers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Patane M, Ghane S, Karyotaki E, Cuijpers P, Schoonmade L, Tarsitani L Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2023; 9:250-263.

PMID: 36618716 PMC: 9806970. DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2022.29.

Association Between Inflammatory Biomarkers and Mental Health Symptoms in Middle Eastern Refugees in the US.

Ghandour M, Yamin J, Arnetz J, Lumley M, Stemmer P, Burghardt P Cureus. 2022; 14(8):e28246.

PMID: 36158450 PMC: 9498960. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.28246.

IL-10: A possible immunobiological component of positive mental health in refugees.

Keaton S, Arnetz J, Jamil H, Dhalimi A, Stemmer P, Ruden D Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2022; 8:100097.

PMID: 35757662 PMC: 9216633. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100097.

Promotion of Resilience in Migrants: A Systematic Review of Study and Psychosocial Intervention.

Ciaramella M, Monacelli N, Cocimano L J Immigr Minor Health. 2021; 24(5):1328-1344.

PMID: 34324124 PMC: 9388436. DOI: 10.1007/s10903-021-01247-y.

References

Wagnild G, Young H . Resilience among older women. Image J Nurs Sch. 1990; 22(4):252-5. DOI: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.1990.tb00224.x. View

Carswell K, Blackburn P, Barker C . The relationship between trauma, post-migration problems and the psychological well-being of refugees and asylum seekers. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2011; 57(2):107-19. DOI: 10.1177/0020764009105699. View

Ungar M . The social ecology of resilience: addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2011; 81(1):1-17. DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01067.x. View

Basoglu M, Paker M, Paker O, Ozmen E, Marks I, Incesu C . Psychological effects of torture: a comparison of tortured with nontortured political activists in Turkey. Am J Psychiatry. 1994; 151(1):76-81. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.151.1.76. View

Punamaki R, Qouta S, El Sarraj E . Nature of torture, PTSD, and somatic symptoms among political ex-prisoners. J Trauma Stress. 2010; 23(4):532-6. DOI: 10.1002/jts.20541. View

Favaro A, Degortes D, Colombo G, Santonastaso P . The effects of trauma among kidnap victims in Sardinia, Italy. Psychol Med. 2000; 30(4):975-80. DOI: 10.1017/s0033291799001877. View

Galatzer-Levy I, Madan A, Neylan T, Henn-Haase C, Marmar C . Peritraumatic and trait dissociation differentiate police officers with resilient versus symptomatic trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms. J Trauma Stress. 2011; 24(5):557-65. PMC: 3974926. DOI: 10.1002/jts.20684. View

Windle G, Bennett K, Noyes J . A methodological review of resilience measurement scales. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2011; 9:8. PMC: 3042897. DOI: 10.1186/1477-7525-9-8. View

Navia C, Ossa M . Family functioning, coping, and psychological adjustment in victims and their families following kidnapping. J Trauma Stress. 2003; 16(1):107-12. DOI: 10.1023/A:1022023730711. View

10.

Kulwicki A . The practice of honor crimes: a glimpse of domestic violence in the Arab world. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2002; 23(1):77-87. DOI: 10.1080/01612840252825491. View

11.

Shoeb M, Weinstein H, Mollica R . The Harvard trauma questionnaire: adapting a cross-cultural instrument for measuring torture, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in Iraqi refugees. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2007; 53(5):447-63. DOI: 10.1177/0020764007078362. View

12.

Wagnild G, Young H . Development and psychometric evaluation of the Resilience Scale. J Nurs Meas. 1993; 1(2):165-78. View

13.

Arnetz B, Broadbridge C, Jamil H, Lumley M, Pole N, Barkho E . Specific trauma subtypes improve the predictive validity of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire in Iraqi refugees. J Immigr Minor Health. 2014; 16(6):1055-61. PMC: 4138298. DOI: 10.1007/s10903-014-9995-9. View

14.

deRoon-Cassini T, Mancini A, Rusch M, Bonanno G . Psychopathology and resilience following traumatic injury: a latent growth mixture model analysis. Rehabil Psychol. 2010; 55(1):1-11. DOI: 10.1037/a0018601. View

15.

Marshall G, Schell T, Elliott M, Berthold S, Chun C . Mental health of Cambodian refugees 2 decades after resettlement in the United States. JAMA. 2005; 294(5):571-9. DOI: 10.1001/jama.294.5.571. View

16.

Ritsner M, Ponizovsky A . Psychological distress through immigration: the two-phase temporal pattern?. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 1999; 45(2):125-39. DOI: 10.1177/002076409904500205. View

17.

Murthy R . Mass violence and mental health--recent epidemiological findings. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2007; 19(3):183-92. DOI: 10.1080/09540260701365460. View

18.

Bartone P . Test-retest reliability of the dispositional resilience scale-15, a brief hardiness scale. Psychol Rep. 2008; 101(3 Pt 1):943-4. DOI: 10.2466/pr0.101.3.943-944. View

19.

Fazel M, Wheeler J, Danesh J . Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000 refugees resettled in western countries: a systematic review. Lancet. 2005; 365(9467):1309-14. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)61027-6. View

20.

Steel Z, Chey T, Silove D, Marnane C, Bryant R, van Ommeren M . Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2009; 302(5):537-49. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.1132. View