How Different Types of Traumatic Experiences Affect the Mental Health of Refugee Children and Teens

What is it about?

This study looked at how different types of traumatic experiences affected the mental health of refugee children and adolescents from Syria and Iraq who had resettled in the United States. The researchers compared two ways of measuring trauma: one that adds up all the difficult experiences (cumulative trauma) and another that looks at specific types of difficult experiences (like being a victim, facing death threats, or accidental injuries). They wanted to see which method better predicts the severity of symptoms related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety in these refugee youth. They found that when it comes to PTSD symptoms, both adding up all the difficult experiences and specifically looking at death threat trauma were significant predictors. However, looking at death threat trauma explained more of the differences in PTSD symptoms than just adding up all the difficult experiences. For anxiety symptoms, only cumulative trauma was associated with higher anxiety, but this link was not as strong when considering multiple comparisons.

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Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Focusing on specific types of trauma, especially death threat trauma, and considering the total amount of difficult experiences can help identify refugee youth at the highest risk for PTSD symptoms. However, anxiety symptoms in these youth may be influenced by other factors not directly related to specific types of trauma. The findings could be helpful in improving efforts to prevent and intervene early in mental health issues for refugee youth.