Posttraumatic stress disorder in Bosnian internally displaced and refugee adolescents from three different regions after the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Objective - To estimate the frequency, type and severity of psychological trauma, the severity of post-traumatic stress symptom clusters and the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) refugee and internally displaced adolescents after the 1992-1995 war.

Subjects and Methods - The sample of 217 pupils (106 females) aged of 15.1±2.1 years consisted of three groups of participants originating from different geographical regions of northeastern BH: Srebrenica (n=69), Zvornik (n=79), and Bijeljina (n=69), who were exposed to war traumas in the 1992-1995 war and were forced to leave their homes and property throughout the war and after it. The war trauma experiences, PTSD symptom severity and PTSD prevalence in the adolescents were evaluated using the Bosnia-Herzegovina version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ).

Results - The severity level of PTSD symptoms and social dysfunction was most severe in Srebrenica, then in Zvornik and finally in the Bijeljina group. The prevalence of PTSD differed statistically significantly between the Srebrenica group (73.9%), the Zvornik group (60.8%) and the Bijeljina group of respondents (47.6%) (χ²=9.854, df=2, p=0.007).

Conclusions - There were regional variations in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Refugee and internally displaced adolescents suffered very frequently from PTSD 3.5 years after war. The most severe war trauma was suffered by in surviving adolescents from Srebrenica, then Zvornik and finally from Bijeljina. The PTSD prevalence is highly reported and significantly differed between the groups.