Journal of Traumatic Stress
Volume 22, Issue 6, 2009, Pages 585-592

Effects of trauma-focused psychotherapy upon war refugees (Conference Paper)

Kruse J.* , Joksimovic L. , Cavka M. , Wöller W. , Schmitz N.
  • a Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Giessen, Friedrichstrasse 33, 35392 Giessen, Germany
  • b Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Düsseldorf, Bergische Landstrasse 2, 40629 Düsseldorf, Germany
  • c Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Düsseldorf, Bergische Landstrasse 2, 40629 Düsseldorf, Germany
  • d Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine, Luisenstrasse 3, 53604 Bad Honnef, Germany
  • e Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of a trauma-focused psychotherapy upon war refugees from Bosnia. Seventy refugees who met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatoform disorders were included. The first 35 refugees were offered psychotherapy and the following 35 refugees received usual care. Outcome variables were changes in self-reported PTSD symptoms, psychological symptoms, and health status. At 12-month follow-up, participants in the intervention group reported significantly lower scores on the PTSD scale and the measure of psychological symptoms than the comparison group participants. Our results suggest that psychotherapy reduces symptoms of PTSD and somatoform disorders among war refugees even in the presence of insecure residence status. © 2009 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

Germany refugee psychological aspect methodology Follow-Up Studies follow up human Life Change Events Refugees middle aged war life event Bosnia and Herzegovina ethnology psychotherapy Bosnia-Herzegovina Young Adult Humans Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female personality test Personality Inventory Article adult migration posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Somatoform Disorders somatoform disorder
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-75749096296&doi=10.1002%2fjts.20477&partnerID=40&md5=53d151fde412facb348ac8cdea709c5b
DOI: 10.1002/jts.20477
ISSN: 08949867
Cited by: 27
Original Language: English