Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Among Syrian Refugees Living in Turkey

Abstract

Although most of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey live outside refugee camps, most mental health research is on camp residents and few are on those living in cities. We aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in Syrian refugees living in an urban area in Turkey. A total of 420 adult Syrians living in Ankara were assessed using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. Probable PTSD and depression rates were 36.5% and 47.7%, respectively. Female sex, physical illness, and greater number of potentially traumatic events predicted both PTSD and depression. PTSD was additionally predicted by past psychiatric illness, and depression was predicted by lower economic status. Interestingly, lower economic status predicted depression among men, but not among women. Studies on refugees should be sensitive to factors that could have a significant effect on mental health such as sex or residence.

Longitudinal investigation of the relationships between trauma exposure, post-migration stress, sleep disturbance, and mental health in Syrian refugees

“…背景: 在不寻求治疗的难民中, 睡眠障碍患病率很高, 这与精神健康状况不佳有关。但是, 没有 纵向研究考查未经治疗的睡眠障碍的长期性及其对难民心理健康的影响。 目的: 本纵向研究考查了12个月期间心理健康 (创伤后应激障碍, 焦虑, 抑郁), 睡眠症状 (失眠 严重程度, 睡前觉醒) 与心理健康预测因素之间的关系。 方法: 来自横断面研究 (时间点1) 的69名叙利亚难民参加了当前12个月 (时间点2) 的随访研 究。参与者完成了考查两个时间点睡眠, 创伤暴露, 移民后生活困难和心理健康的一系列问 卷。 结果: 与时间点1相比, 参与者在时间点2的移民后压力显著增加。但是, 他们的心理健康和 睡眠障碍水平有所提升。一半的参与者在时间点2达到中度 (36％) 或严重睡眠障碍 (15％) 的标准。42％的参与者在时间点1和时间点2都有中度至严重的睡眠障碍。在12个月的随 访中, 只有时间点1的睡前觉醒独立预测了时间点2的心理健康。中介分析表明, 睡前觉醒 的变化 (从时间点1到时间点2) 显著中介了移民后压力和心理健康症状改变之间的关系。 结论: 本研究表明, 睡眠症状对难民的心理健康具有间接和长期的影响。了解睡眠等可调 节因素并中介创伤暴露与PTSD症状之间的关系很重要, 因为这些因素可以作为难民心理干 预措施的目标。 Syrians continue to be the world's largest forcibly displaced population, with an estimated 11.7 million Syrians displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2019). Experiences of conflictrelated violence and ongoing concerns about the current situation in Syria are compounded by postmigration living difficulties in host countries, such as inadequate housing and health services, isolation and discrimination, loss of status, harsh socioeconomics, and uncertainty about the future (Hassan, Ventevogel, Jefee-Bahloul, Barkil-Oteo, & Kirmayer, 2016;Kaya, Kiliç, Karadağ Çaman, & Üner, 2019). These factors impact mental health, with prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) being 33.5% and 27.2% in a sample of Syrians living in a refugee camp in Turkey (Alpak et al, 2015) and in Lebanon (Kazour et al, 2017), respectively.…”

Predictors of psychological distress in Syrian refugees with posttraumatic stress in Germany

“…Higher pre-displacement socioeconomic status was shown to be a predictor of mental distress in refugees [ 20 ]. A lower post-migration economic status in males was a predictor for depression [ 17 ]. While higher education was associated with worse mental health outcomes in a study by Porter and Haslam, [ 20 ] low education was stated as a predicting factor for mood and anxiety disorders by Bogic et al [ 22 ].…”

“…The experience of a larger variability of TE [Note: We use the term “variability of TE” instead of the common expression “sum/number of TE” since it is not the number of experiences that is assessed but the different types of traumatization.] is a predicting factor for PTSD, depression and anxiety in refugees [ 11 , 17 , 18 ], with a special focus on interpersonal violence [ 14 , 15 ]. TE can occur in all phases of migration, during the war in Syria, on flight-routes (e.g., unsafe means of transport) as well as in the country of arrival (e.g., detention) [ 13 ].…”

Somatic distress among Syrian refugees in Istanbul, Turkey: A cross-sectional study

“…The most recent data report a prevalence of mental disorders (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia) among conflict-affected populations of 22% but estimates vary considerably by study design and affected population [9]. Surveys of Syrian refugees hosted in low-and middle-income countries of the Middle East report somewhat higher figures, with estimates ranging from 36 to 65% for depression, 35-44% for anxiety, and 20-83% for PTSD [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”