The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelatedness between temperament and character according to Cloninger's biosocial theory of personality, coping behavior, and social support among traumatized refugees. Personality, psychopathological disturbances, coping resources, and social support were assessed in 100 Iranian refugees resettled in Sweden who had been exposed to various extreme traumatic life events in Iran before their escape. Individuals traumatized by war experiences as soldiers, with low Beck Depression Inventory scores showed the lowest scores in Harm Avoidance and the highest in Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness. Concerning coping resources and social support, these subjects scored slightly higher and the traumatized refugees with high Beck Depression Inventory scores scored slightly lower compared with nontraumatized subjects. Resilient refugees are characterized by low harm avoidance, high self-directedness, and high cooperativeness scores which enables them to develop effective coping strategies to obtain sufficient social support and thus to become more resistant against severe trauma.

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personality disorder depression refugee human Life Change Events Refugees life event Ethnic Groups coping behavior temperament Adaptation, Psychological social support Iran Mental Disorders Sweden Humans ethnic difference male female Personality Inventory Psychiatric Status Rating Scales prevalence scoring system Article experience major clinical study adult migration Sex Factors Personality Analysis of Variance character soldier