Year: 2016
Type: review
Abstract: ABSTRACT: Studies have shown that a high proportion of refugees have been subjected to potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs). PTEs, including torture, are powerful predictors of mental ill health. This paper reports a review of refugee trauma history self-report measures used in population studies. METHODS: A review of existing instruments and checklists, up to September 2015, was performed. RESULTS: The types of measures for refugee trauma history vary from semi-structured interviews and medical records to extensive multi-item trauma-checklists. The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) was the most commonly used instrument for measuring trauma history among refugee populations. Few checklists included PTEs during the flight. CONCLUSION: Trauma history checklists are often used as a tool to control for background variables when studying refugees' mental health and have mostly been developed in clinical or semi-clinical settings. There is a need for acceptable, reliable and valid brief checklists for measuring trauma in refugees, for the purpose of performing larger scale population studies.
Source: Public health reviews
Authors: Erika Sigvardsdotter, Andreas Malm, Petter Tinghög, Marjan Vaez, Fredrik Saboonchi
Institutions: Röda Korsets Högskola, Karolinska Institutet
Language: English
Topic: Migration, Health and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,389
OpenAlex ID: W2515816664