Common mental disorders in postconflict settings

Jong, Joop T. V. M. de; Komproe, Ivan H.; Ommeren, Mark van

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(03)13692-6

Cited by 346 publications

(295 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Refugees are at considerable risk of developing symptoms of common mental disorders including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related somatic health symptoms (de Jong, Komproe, & Van Ommeren, 2003; Fazel, Wheeler, & Danesh, 2005; Hassan, Ventevogel, Jefee-Bahloul, Barkil-Oteo, & Kirmayer, 2016; Steel et al, 2009). Epidemiological studies indicate that the age-standardized point prevalence of PTSD and major depression in conflict-affected populations is estimated to be 12.9% and 7.6%, respectively (Charlson et al, 2016).…”

Section: Common Mental Disorders and Related Conditions In Syrian Refmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening mental health care systems for Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East: integrating scalable psychological interventions in eight countries

Sijbrandij¹,

Acartürk

Bird³

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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199

202

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The crisis in Syria has resulted in vast numbers of refugees seeking asylum in Syria’s neighbouring countries as well as in Europe. Refugees are at considerable risk of developing common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most refugees do not have access to mental health services for these problems because of multiple barriers in national and refugee specific health systems, including limited availability of mental health professionals. To counter some of challenges arising from limited mental health system capacity the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a range of scalable psychological interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress and improving functioning in people living in communities affected by adversity. These interventions, including Problem Management Plus (PM+) and its variants, are intended to be delivered through individual or group face-to-face or smartphone formats by lay, non-professional people who have not received specialized mental health training,We provide an evidence-based rationale for the use of the scalable PM+ oriented programmes being adapted for Syrian refugees and provide information on the newly launched STRENGTHS programme for adapting, testing and scaling up of PM+ in various modalities in both neighbouring and European countries hosting Syrian refugees.

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Section: Common Mental Disorders and Related Conditions In Syrian Refmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening mental health care systems for Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East: integrating scalable psychological interventions in eight countries

Sijbrandij¹,

Acartürk

Bird³

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Self Cite

199

202

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In spite of their importance, mental health infrastructure, human resources, and policy are critically lacking in low-and middleincome countries (LAMIC) (World Health Organization, 2005b). Settings of political violence, which are disproportionately represented by LAMIC, also demonstrate a high burden of psychosocial and mental health difficulties (de Jong, Komproe, & van Ommeren, 2003;Mollica et al, 2004). The changing nature of warfare since the second half of the 20th century, from mostly inter-state to intrastate conflicts in civilian-populated areas, has resulted in increased vulnerabilities of civilian populations to human rights violations, including disappearances, torture and sexual violence (Pedersen, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political violence and mental health: A multi-disciplinary review of the literature on Nepal

Tol

Kohrt

Jordans

et al. 2010

Social Science & Medicine

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“…The consequent influx of refugees in Europe (UNHCR, 2015) is currently dominating the news and the political debate. War experiences, persecution, hunger, loss of loved ones, a long and unsafe journey, and settlement in refugee camps all take their mental and physical toll (de Jong, Komproe, & Van Ommeren, 2003; Hassan, Ventevogel, Jefee-Bahloul, Barkil-Oteo, & Kirmayer, 2016). The resulting long- and short-term mental health and psychosocial consequences are many and varied, and a proportion of refugees seek health care for these mental health problems in their host country (de Jong, 2002; de Jong, Komproe, & Van Ommeren, 2003; Hassan et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The assessment of psychopathology among traumatized refugees: measurement invariance of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 across five linguistic groups

Wind

Rie

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Questionnaires are widely used to assess the mental health status of refugees, whereas their construct validity largely remains unexplored. Objective: This study examined the construct validity of two widely-used instruments for the assessment of PTSD symptoms (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire [HTQ]; 16 items) and symptoms of anxiety and depression (Hopkins Symptom Check list-25 [HSCL-25]; 25 items) among Dutch and refugee patients with different linguistic backgrounds. Method: We applied exploratory factor analyses and measurement invariance analyses to test construct validity.Participants (n =1 256) were divided into five linguistic groups defined by language family, including four non-western linguistic groups (Indo-Iranian [n = 262], Niger-Congo [n = 134], Semitic [n = 288], and South Slavic languages [n = 199]) and one western linguistic group (Germanic languages; Dutch [n = 373]). Results: Exploratory factor analysis yielded a 3-factor structure of the HTQ and a 2-factor structure of the HSCL-25. Measurement invariance 20 analyses on the HTQ showed strong measurement invariance across the groups of refugee patients. However, Dutch patients reported milder symptom severity on most items of the HTQ. Measurement invariance analyses on the HSCL-25 (not conducted in Dutch patients) indicated partial strong measurement invariance across refugee patients. Conclusion: We conclude that mental health constructs measured by the HTQ and the HSCL25 25 are to a large extent interpreted in a similar way by refugee patients. This indicates that these instruments can be applied in non-western refugee patient populations, and that local idioms of distress and inherent response patterns may not play a major role when applying the HTQ and the HSCL-25 in these populations. Yet, whereas meaningful comparisons of observed PTSD and depression scores between groups of refugee patients with different non30 western linguistic background are feasible, comparisons between patients with a western and non-western linguistic background, as well as comparisons of anxiety scores, are likely to be biased. Future studies need to establish whether the commonly used cut-off scores of both questionnaires apply for refugee patients with non-western linguistic backgrounds.

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Common mental disorders in postconflict settings

Cited by 346 publications

References 5 publications

Strengthening mental health care systems for Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East: integrating scalable psychological interventions in eight countries

Strengthening mental health care systems for Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East: integrating scalable psychological interventions in eight countries

Political violence and mental health: A multi-disciplinary review of the literature on Nepal

The assessment of psychopathology among traumatized refugees: measurement invariance of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 across five linguistic groups

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