Relationships of Childhood Adverse Experiences with Mental Health and Quality of Life at Treatment Start for Adult Refugees Traumatized by Pre-Flight Experiences of War and Human Rights Violations
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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2015-09Metadata
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Opaas, M., & Varvin, S. (2015). Relationships of childhood adverse experiences with mental health and quality of life at treatment start for adult refugees traumatized by pre-flight experiences of war and human rights violations. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 203(9), 684. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000330Abstract
Adverse and potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) in childhoodwere examined among 54 adult refugee patients with pre-flight PTEs of warand human rights violations (HRVs) and related to mental health and quality oflife at treatment start. Extent of childhood PTEs was more strongly related tomental health and quality of life than the extent of war and HRV experiences.Childhood PTEs were significantly related to arousal and avoidance symptomsof posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to quality of life, whereas pre-flight war and HRV experiences were significantly related to reexperiencingsymptoms of PTSD only. Within childhood adversities, experiences of family vi-olence and external violence, but not of loss and illness, were significantly relatedto increased mental health symptoms and reduced quality of life. These resultspoint to the importance of taking childhood adverse experiences into accountin research and treatment planning for adult refugees with war and HRVs trauma.