Later-life depressive symptoms and anxiety attacks in displaced and nondisplaced populations

Ulke, Christine; Gfesser, Tobias; Fleischer, Toni; Altweck, Laura; Hahm, Stefanie; Mühlan, Holger; Heller, Ayline; Beutel, Manfred E.; Schmidt, Silke; Grabe, Hans J.; Schomerus, Georg; Brähler, Elmar; Speerforck, Sven

doi:10.1016/j.jadr.2020.100061

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…As a result, West Germany was bombed more heavily than the East German country parts [ 34 ]. On the other hand, people born in East Germany before 1947 were more likely to experience displacement, accounting for nearly 20% of the East German sample.. From a clinical perspective this is highly relevant as displaced people and their offspring are more likely to suffer from mental disorders like depression and anxiety than those who have not been displaced [ 35 ]. Again, historical events during WWII might be responsible for the difference, since many people fled from former German territories in East Europe to nearby German territories, that become part of East Germany [ 36 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical and regional particularities in the prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in East and West Germany

Kasinger,

Schulz,

Ulke

et al. 2023

BMC Public Health

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Background Epidemiological research on the prevalence of traumatic events and PTSD has shown that there are significant differences between countries, due to their different history and socialization processes. In the case of Germany, this is particularly relevant. Germany was divided into two states from 1949 to 1990. This study examines the prevalence of traumatic events and PTSD in the formerly divided East and West Germany. Methods For the prevalence of traumatic events, we used data from four representative surveys (years 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2016) with a total of N = 9,200 respondents. For the analyses of PTSD prevalence, we used data from three representative surveys (years 2005, 2007, 2008) with a total of N = 6676 respondents. We compared different birth cohorts, persons living in the former West vs. East Germany, and the application of different diagnostic criteria using a chi-square test. Results The overall one-month prevalence rate for PTSD was 3.4% (3.0% for men and 3.8% for women). We found significant differences in the occurrence of traumatic events between genders, different age cohorts as well as between people who live in East and West Germany. Significant differences in the prevalence of PTSD can only be observed for different age cohorts. Most of the age effects are due to traumatic events related to World War II (WWII). Prevalence rates for PTSD were higher when the diagnostic criterions of the DSM-V were applied compared to the criterions of the DSM-IV. Conclusions Our data suggests that socio-political factors may need to be considered when accounting for differences in occurrence rates of traumatic events, but not for prevalence rates of PTSD, between East and West Germany. People who have experienced WW II have a higher risk of suffering from PTSD. Future epidemiological trauma research should take historical and regional peculiarities of countries into account.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical and regional particularities in the prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in East and West Germany

Kasinger,

Schulz,

Ulke

et al. 2023

BMC Public Health

Self Cite

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“…On the other hand, people born before 1947 in East Germany experienced displacement more often, constituting almost 20% of the East German sample. From a clinical perspective this is highly relevant as people who have been displaced, as well as their offspring, suffer from mental disorders like depression and anxiety more often than people who have not been displaced [25]. Again, historical events during WWII might be responsible for the difference, since many people ed from former German territories in East Europe to nearby German territories, that become part of East Germany [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical and regional particularities in the prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in Germany

Kasinger

Schulz

Glaesmer

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Purpose Research on prevalence rates of traumatic events and PTSD has shown significant differences between countries, due to their different history and socialization processes. In the case of Germany, with its history of two divided states, this is highly relevant. This study explores the prevalence of traumatic events and PTSD in formerly divided East and West Germany. Methods We used data of four representative surveys (years 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2016) for the prevalence of traumatic events with a total of N = 9.200 respondents. For the analyses of the prevalence of PTSD we used data of three representative surveys (years 2005, 2007, 2008) with a total of N = 6676 respondents. We compared different birth cohorts as well as persons who lived in the former West vs. East using a Chi-Square-Test. Results We found significant differences in the occurrence of traumatic events between genders, different age cohorts as well as between people who live in East and West Germany. Significant differences in the prevalence of PTSD can only be observed for different age cohorts. Most of the age effects may be due to traumatic events related to WWII. Conclusions Our data suggests that socio-political factors may need to be considered when accounting for differences in occurrence rates of traumatic events between East and West Germany. However, we couldn’t find any differences in the overall prevalence of PTSD between the former GDR and FRG. Nevertheless, future epidemiological trauma research should take historical and regional peculiarities of countries into account.

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Later-life depressive symptoms and anxiety attacks in displaced and nondisplaced populations

Cited by 2 publications

References 12 publications

Historical and regional particularities in the prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in East and West Germany

Historical and regional particularities in the prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in East and West Germany

Historical and regional particularities in the prevalence of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in Germany

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