Rivista di Psichiatria
Volume 46, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 129-139

Immigration, trauma, living difficulties and psychopathology: A preliminary study in a primary care setting [Immigrazione, traumi, difficoltà vitali e psicopatologia: Uno studio preliminare in un setting di medicina generale] (Article)

Carrer S.* , Meuti V. , Catino E. , Pucci D. , Lafuente M. , Colosimo F. , Aragona M. , Mazzetti M. , Maisano B. , Geraci S.
  • a Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • b Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • c Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • d Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • e Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • f Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • g Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • h Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • i Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy
  • j Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma, Italy

Abstract

Aim. Investigate the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and somatizations in a sample of immigrants visited in a transcultural primary care service. The relationship among psychopathological symptoms, pre-migratory events and post-migration living difficulties is also considered. Methods.We studied 101 outpatients, attending the "Caritas" Primary Care Unit for immigrants in Rome. All participants fulfilled a socio-demographic questionnaire, a checklist of traumatic events (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, HTQ), a checklist of post-migration living difficulties (Post-Migration Living Difficulties, PMLD) and the following questionnaires: the HTQ for the assessment of post-traumatic symptoms, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) for anxiety and depression, the Bredford Somatic Inventory (BSI) for somatization. Results. 40 patients (39.60%) had an anxiety disorder, 47 (46.13%) a depressive disorder, 16 (15.84%) a PTSD and 39 (38,6%) a somatization syndrome.All these syndromes were significantly correlated.The number of traumatic events and of post-migration difficulties significantly increased the scores on the psychopathological scales. Discussion. The prevalence of psychopathological syndromes in our primary care transcultural unit was high.This not only in refugees, but also in immigrants for other reasons.Moreover, the levels of psychopathological distress were significantly influenced by the number of pre-migratory traumas and of living difficulties in the host country.

Author Keywords

Primary care Migration Living difficulties PTSD trauma

Index Keywords

depression primary medical care anxiety disorder mental health service Wounds and Injuries human immigration Life Change Events middle aged clinical assessment tool controlled study Aged bredford somatic inventory checklist post migration living difficulties Mental Disorders mental disease Young Adult Humans male female Harvard Trauma Questionnaire questionnaire clinical article symptom prevalence Article adult posttraumatic stress disorder Emigration and Immigration somatization primary health care Hopkins Symptom Checklist
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79955837994&doi=10.1708%2f626.7313&partnerID=40&md5=9738b45727cc1d9ae3f3fe40ccd54c0d
DOI: 10.1708/626.7313
ISSN: 00356484
Cited by: 5
Original Language: Italian