The objective of this study was to examine the construct validity of PTSD in a sample of refugee children from the Middle East - more specifically, to assess whether associations between traumatic events and specific PTSD symptoms were more outspoken than (1) the associations of PTSD symptoms with non-traumatic exposures, and (2) the associations of violent exposures with symptoms other than PTSD-symptoms. Parents of 311 refugee children from the Middle East were interviewed concerning their children's traumatic experiences and mental health symptoms. The specific PTSD symptoms did not cluster in a factor analysis. The PTSD symptom complex was significantly predicted not only by violent exposures (mother tortured, OR 8.2, p < 0.005; father disappeared OR 3.2, p < 0.05) but also by indicators of family interaction and parents' occupational situation. The two identified violent exposures had significant independent associations with a series of symptoms including symptoms other than those of PTSD (r5 ranging from 0.25 to 0.44, p < 0.001). Thus it does not seem sufficient to focus solely on PTSD symptomatology when assessing the mental health needs of refugee children. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

child violence PTSD Validity Refugee Torture

Diagnosis, Differential refugee mass screening Child Reactive Disorders mental health human Refugees comorbidity Middle East validation process Denmark violence controlled study diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders Professional Competence family conflict Cross-Sectional Studies mental disease Humans Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female Socioeconomic Factors Child, Preschool Risk Factors Reproducibility of Results Psychometrics Article major clinical study posttraumatic stress disorder structured interview Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic factorial analysis disease association personality assessment Torture Child