Coping strategies and mental health outcomes of conflict-affected persons in the Republic of Georgia

Abstract

Aims.Adults who experienced the 1992 and 2008 armed conflicts in the Republic of Georgia were exposed to multiple traumatic events and stressors over many years. The aim was to investigate what coping strategies are used by conflict-affected persons in Georgia and their association with mental disorders.Method.A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 3600 adults, representing internally displaced persons (IDPs) from conflicts in the 1990s (n = 1200) and 2008 (n = 1200) and former IDPs who returned to their homes after the 2008 conflict (n = 1200). Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and coping strategies were measured using the Trauma Screening Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalised Anxiety and adapted version of the Brief Coping Inventory, respectively. Descriptive and multivariate regression analyses were used.Results.Coping strategies such as use of humour, emotional support, active coping, acceptance and religion were significantly associated with better mental health outcomes. Coping strategies of behavioural and mental disengagement, denial, venting emotions, substance abuse and gambling were significantly associated with poorer mental health outcomes. The reported use of coping strategies varied significantly between men and women for 8 of the 15 strategies addressed.Conclusions.Many conflict-affected persons in Georgia are still suffering mental health problems years after the conflicts. A number of specific coping strategies appear to be associated with better mental health and should be encouraged and supported where possible.

Religiosity and the psychological outcomes of trauma: A systematic review of quantitative studies

“…Some of the studies focusing on general religious coping (without differentiating between positive and negative coping) showed positive associations between this variable and good psychological functioning: Currier et al ()—positive association with PTG and negative with distress; Hawthorne, Youngblut, and Brooten ()—negative associations with grief, depression, PTSD (only in women), and positive with PTG (only in women); Maschi, Viola, and Morgen ()—positive link with global mental health; Saxon et al (), and negative links with mental disorders (only in women). Nevertheless, no significant links with symptoms of PTSD were demonstrated in a longitudinal study (Bryant‐Davis et al, ; all participants were women); prayer as coping was not linked with symptoms of depression in Ai et al ().…”

“…All papers focusing on sexual trauma or domestic violence recruited only female participants. Some studies concerning other types of traumatic stress found stronger associations between religiosity constructs and the psychological outcomes in women, as compared to men (i.e., Hawthorne et al, ; Saxon et al, ; Zukerman et al, ); the vast majority of studies either recruited only one gender or did not reports the results regarding the effect size depending on gender. Nevertheless, there is some preliminary evidence suggesting greater links between religiosity and psychological outcomes of trauma.…”

The Relationship between Conflicts, Economic Shocks, and Death with Depression, Economic Activities, and Human Capital Investment in Nigeria

“…Several studies find support for the first relationship in that deteriorating mental health, and depression in particular, is a significant consequence of acute adverse events such as conflict (Murthy and Lakshminarayana 2006). Recent studies report political conflict and associated violence have increased the risk of depression in conflict prone areas such as West Bank and Gaza, Colombia, Sri Lanka, West Papua and Georgia (Canetti, Galea et al 2010, Richards, Ospina-Duque et al 2011, Senarath, Wickramage et al 2014, Tay, Rees et al 2015, Saxon, Makhashvili et al 2017. Das et al (2009) show that economic and other shocks can have a significant impact on the mental health of household members.…”

“…Studies have found economic shocks (Das, Do et al 2009), paternal loss (Nickerson et al 2013) and loss of a child (Rosenberg, A. R. et al 2012) lead to increased likelihood of becoming depressed. Recent studies report political conflict and associated violence have increased the risk of depression in conflict prone areas such as West Bank and Gaza, Colombia, Sri Lanka, West Papua and Georgia (Canetti, Galea et al 2010, Richards, Ospina-Duque et al 2011, Senarath, Wickramage et al 2014, Tay, Rees et al 2015, Saxon, Makhashvili et al 2017. While these studies call attention to the impacts of political conflict and violence on mental health, little is still known about their implications on behavior and decision making among people who are affected by conflict as well as estimated economic costs of depression.…”

Coping Style, Job Burnout and Mental Health of University Teachers of the Millennial Generation

“…The two factors of stress intensity and social support are beyond the scope of personal control, while coping style, as an intermediary factor, affects nature and intensity of stress, and regulates the relationship between stress and physical and mental health (Chen, Zheng, Pan, & Zheng, 2000). For individuals, coping style is even more important in relief of stress (Saxon et al,2017).Some scholars have proposed that individuals which is under long-term pressure in the environment can take a certain coping style and the coping style can play a protective role in mental health (Jackson, Knight, & Rafferty, 2010); The study shows that the emergency department nurses take the coping style when facing the pressure ,there is an effect of coping style on their physical and mental health and nursing quality (Lu et al, 2015); Taking the nurses as the research object, it is found that the frequent occupational stress leads to the low level of physical and mental health, the positive coping style of the problem is related to the mental health, and the negative coping style of emotion is negatively correlated with the mental health (Chang et al,2007).…”