Psychological burden in female, iraqi refugees who suffered extreme violence by the “Islamic State”

• Verfasst von: Rometsch-Ogioun El Sount, Caroline [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Nikendei, Christoph [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Kindermann, David [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Psychological burden in female, iraqi refugees who suffered extreme violence by the “Islamic State”
• Titelzusatz: the perspective of care providers
• Verf.angabe: Caroline Rometsch-Ogioun El Sount, Jana Katharina Denkinger, Petra Windthorst, Christoph Nikendei, David Kindermann, Viola Renner, Johanna Ringwald, Sara Brucker, Virginia M. Tran, Stephan Zipfel, Florian Junne
• E-Jahr: 2018
• Jahr: 08 November 2018
• Umfang: 10 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 15.08.2019
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Frontiers in psychiatry
• Ort Quelle: Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation, 2007
• Jahr Quelle: 2018
• Band/Heft Quelle: 9(2018), Artikel-ID 562, Seite 1-10
• ISSN Quelle: 1664-0640
• DOI: doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00562
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: Caregivers
• Sach-SW: Pain
• Sach-SW: Psychological burden
• Sach-SW: PTSD
• Sach-SW: Refugees
• Sach-SW: Somatic symptoms
• Sach-SW: Trauma
• Sach-SW: Yazidi
• K10plus-PPN: 1671442792

Abstract

Introduction. A large number of refugees suffer from mental disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the context of a special quota project, 1100 Yazidi women from Northern Iraq who had suffered extreme violence by the so-called Islamic State (IS) were brought to Germany to receive specialized treatment. This study aims to investigate the psychological burden and trauma-related symptoms of these female IS-victims from the perspectives of their care providers. Material and methods. Care providers with various professional backgrounds (N = 96) were asked to complete a self-developed questionnaire on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very low) to 7 (very high) analyzing the psychological burden and trauma-related symptoms of the IS-traumatized women since their arrival in Germany. We controlled for potential confounders, namely the care providers’ personal experiences of trauma and flight, by using chi-square tests. Results. The mean psychological burden for the whole period in Germany as perceived by care providers was M = 5.51 (SD = 0.94). As the main factors of distress the care providers reported: worries about family members in Iraq (M = 6.69; SD = 0.69), worries about relatives’ possibilities to be granted asylum in Germany (M = 6.62; SD = 0.68), and uncertainties regarding their future (M = 5.89; SD = 1.02). The most prominent trauma-related psychological symptoms were nightmares (M = 6.43; SD = 0.54). The care providers reported that somatic complaints have been present among the refugees in the following manifestation: pain (M = 6.24; SD = 1.08), gastrointestinal complaints (M = 4.62; SD = 1.62), and dizziness (M = 4.40; SD = 1.59). The care providers’ personal experiences of trauma and flight had no significant influence on their response behavior. Discussion. Care providers working with IS-traumatized female refugees evaluate the psychological burden and trauma-related somatic and psychological symptom loads of their clients as very high. The results of this study provide important information about the perceptions of care providers working in a refugee-services context and may provide insights for the progression of specialized treatment programs and interventions for highly traumatized refugees and culture-sensitive training programs for their care providers.