Journal of Muslim Mental Health
Volume 3, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 193-215

The physical and mental health effects of Iraq war media exposure on Iraqi refugees (Article)

Kira I.A.* , Templin T. , Lewandowski L. , Ramaswamy V. , Ozkan B. , Mohanesh J.
  • a Center for Torture and Trauma Survivors, Center for Cumulative Trauma Studies, Decatur, GA, United States
  • b Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
  • c Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
  • d Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
  • e Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
  • f ACCESS, Community Health and Research Center

Abstract

The focus of this study was to explore the effects of watching or listening to news about the war in Iraq on the physical and mental health in a sample of 501 Iraqi refugees. We used measures of media exposure, families and friends killed in the war, cumulative trauma, torture, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cumulative trauma disorders, and health. Data indicates media exposure to war news was highly predictive of PTSD and poor health after controlling for the effects of previous cumulative traumas and demographics. The effect of media exposure was comparable in its physical and mental health effects to the war-related death or injury of family members and friends, and stronger than other previous traumas. We used mass communication, globalization, secondary trauma, identity trauma, taxonomy of trauma, and cognitive and value processing theories to interpret the results. Results suggest that war media exposure is a Type III collective identity secondary trauma for Iraqis, which is the most damaging kind. It is ongoing and also has the potential of retraumatization. Previous cumulative traumas and poverty mediated the effects of media exposure. Media has a powerful impact because it transmits potentially significant information (relevant and important to the individual) quickly and by using striking and clear images of the war that can traumatize or retraumatize the concerned individual.

Author Keywords

Type III trauma Relevant exposure Retraumatization Collective identity traumas Violence media exposure secondary trauma

Index Keywords

refugee demography mental health human friend injury war Iraq priority journal Aged death school child family Adolescent male female cognition reliability mass communication Article major clinical study adult posttraumatic stress disorder Torture
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-58149203291&doi=10.1080%2f15564900802487592&partnerID=40&md5=1b8c55d87a0eb3bb63baf6b8f32a4a4c
DOI: 10.1080/15564900802487592
ISSN: 15564908
Cited by: 16
Original Language: English