Cross-cultural assessment of psychological symptoms among Somali refugees.
Author: Bentley, J.A.
Source:
Cross-cultural assessment of psychological symptoms among Somali Refugees. Seattle Pacific University, Vol 71(8-B), 2011, 5111.
Abstract
The primary aim of this study was to examine the influence of somatization and postmigration living difficulties (PMLD) on the report of psychological symptoms among
Somali refugees living in the United States. This study was also designed to provide
psychometric data for a Somali version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ).
Four hypotheses were proposed in this study: (a) pre-migration traumatic exposure will
predict self-reported psychological symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, and
posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), (b) somatic complaints will have an indirect effect
on the relationship between trauma and outcome symptoms, (c) PMLD will moderate the
trauma – symptoms relationships, and (d) the indirect effect of somatic complaints on the
relationship between traumatic exposure and psychological symptoms will be conditional
on values of PMLD. To test these hypotheses, data was collected from a predominantly
male sample (64.9%) of 74 adult Somali participants. Preliminary analysis of the Somali
HTQ demonstrated a high level of internal consistency for the measure (α = .95). The
results of this study also indicated traumatic exposure as a significant predictor of
depression, anxiety, and PTSD among Somalis. Somatization served as a mediating
influence between pre-migration trauma and mood disturbance, accounting for 9% of the
variance in the relationship with depression and 14% of the variance in the relationship
with anxiety. PMLD moderated the relationship between trauma and depression only
(ΔR2
= .068, p = .017). Furthermore, PMLD was found to moderate the indirect effect of
somatization on the relationship between trauma and depression. These findings are
consistent with previous research suggesting that Somali refugees are at significant risk
for posttraumatic stress and overall mood disturbance following traumatic exposure. This
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study furthers the available literature on Somali mental health by highlighting the
differential course of PTSD from either depression or anxiety. Endorsement of PTSD
symptoms does not appear to be influenced by report of somatic complaints or moderated
by PMLD in this refugee sample. By contrast, somatic complaints may play an influential
role in the presentation of depression and anxiety among Somalis. Moreover,
psychosocial stress encountered post-migration appears to exacerbate depressive
symptoms relative to other psychological difficulties reported by this group.
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