TY - JOUR
T1 - Mental health in genocide
T2 - Balancing between posttraumatic distress and growth among displaced Yazidi mothers
AU - Ghafouri, Nazdar
AU - Ghafouri, Nemam
AU - Mohammadi, Leila
AU - Simoqi, Ahmed H.Q.
AU - Punamäki, Raija Leena
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Background. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) committed genocide of the Yazidis in Sinjar 2014, resulting in dispersion and enslavement. Research shows severe mental health problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors, but less is known about their resources and strengths, conceptualized as posttraumatic growth (PTG). Aims. are to examine the balance between symptoms and strengths among Yazidi women caring for their infants by identifying groups differing in PTSD and PTG, and analyze how demographic, obstetric, and infant-related factors associate with the groups. Method. Participants were 283 Yazidi mothers with their 1-18-month-old infants displaced in Kurdish Region of North Iraq. PTSD symptoms were measured by Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and PTG by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Results. identified four groups: “Severe symptoms and low growth” (39%), “Low symptoms and moderate growth” (38%), “Moderate symptoms and very high growth” (13%), and “Moderate symptoms and low growth” (10%). Low education, economic difficulties and obstetric problems related to the “Severe symptoms and low growth” group, whereas newborn and infant health problems did not have an impact. Conclusion. Effective help for genocide survivors should both alleviate suffering and encourage resources through tools of recreating a sense of cultural security and pride.
AB - Background. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) committed genocide of the Yazidis in Sinjar 2014, resulting in dispersion and enslavement. Research shows severe mental health problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors, but less is known about their resources and strengths, conceptualized as posttraumatic growth (PTG). Aims. are to examine the balance between symptoms and strengths among Yazidi women caring for their infants by identifying groups differing in PTSD and PTG, and analyze how demographic, obstetric, and infant-related factors associate with the groups. Method. Participants were 283 Yazidi mothers with their 1-18-month-old infants displaced in Kurdish Region of North Iraq. PTSD symptoms were measured by Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and PTG by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Results. identified four groups: “Severe symptoms and low growth” (39%), “Low symptoms and moderate growth” (38%), “Moderate symptoms and very high growth” (13%), and “Moderate symptoms and low growth” (10%). Low education, economic difficulties and obstetric problems related to the “Severe symptoms and low growth” group, whereas newborn and infant health problems did not have an impact. Conclusion. Effective help for genocide survivors should both alleviate suffering and encourage resources through tools of recreating a sense of cultural security and pride.
KW - genocide
KW - infants
KW - posttraumatic growth
KW - PTSD
KW - women
KW - Yazidis
U2 - 10.1080/09638237.2024.2332799
DO - 10.1080/09638237.2024.2332799
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85189987838
SN - 0963-8237
JO - JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH
JF - JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH
ER -