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Ajdukovic, D

Bogic, M

Franciskovic, T

Galeazzi, GM

Giacco, D

Kucukalic, A

Lecic-Tosevski, D

Matanov, A

Morina, N

Popovski, M

Priebe, S

Schuetzwohl, M

BMC Public Health

English

PubMed

BACKGROUND - Exposure to traumatic war events may lead to a reduction in quality of life for many years. Research suggests that these impairments may be associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms; however, wars also have a profound impact on social conditions. Systematic studies utilising subjective quality of life (SQOL) measures are particularly rare and research in post-conflict settings is scarce. Whether social factors independently affect SQOL after war in addition to symptoms has not been explored in large scale studies.



METHOD - War-affected community samples were recruited through a random-walk technique in five Balkan countries and through registers and networking in three Western European countries. The interviews were carried out on average 8 years after the war in the Balkans. SQOL was assessed on Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life - MANSA. We explored the impact of war events, posttraumatic stress symptoms and post-war environment on SQOL.



RESULTS - We interviewed 3313 Balkan residents and 854 refugees in Western Europe. The MANSA mean score was 4.8 (SD = 0.9) for the Balkan sample and 4.7 (SD = 0.9) for refugees. In both samples participants were explicitly dissatisfied with their employment and financial situation. Posttraumatic stress symptoms had a strong negative impact on SQOL. Traumatic war events were directly linked with lower SQOL in Balkan residents. The post-war environment influenced SQOL in both groups: unemployment was associated with lower SQOL and recent contacts with friends with higher SQOL. Experiencing more migration-related stressors was linked to poorer SQOL in refugees.



CONCLUSION - Both posttraumatic stress symptoms and aspects of the post-war environment independently influence SQOL in war-affected populations. Aid programmes to improve wellbeing following the traumatic war events should include both treatment of posttraumatic symptoms and social interventions

Matanov, Aleksandra

Giacco, Domenico

Bogić, Marija

Ajduković, Dean

Frančišković, Tanja

Galeazzi, Gian Maria

Kučukalić, Abdulah

Lečić-Toševski, Dušica

Morina, Nexhmedin

Popovski, Mihajlo

Schützwohl, Matthias

Priebe, Stefan

Digitalni arhiv Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu

Subjective quality of life in war-affected populations

Background:Exposure to traumatic war events may lead to a reduction in quality of life for many years. Research suggests that these impairments may be associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms; however, wars also have a profound impact on social conditions. Systematic studies utilising subjective quality of life (SQOL) measures are particularly rare and research in post-conflict settings is scarce. Whether social factors independently affect SQOL after war in addition to symptoms has not been explored in large scale studies.Method: War-affected community samples were recruited through a random-walk technique in five Balkan countries and through registers and networking in three Western European countries. The interviews were carried out on average 8 years after the war in the Balkans. SQOL was assessed on Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life - MANSA. We explored the impact of war events, posttraumatic stress symptoms and post-war environment on SQOL.Results: We interviewed 3313 Balkan residents and 854 refugees in Western Europe. The MANSA mean score was 4.8 (SD = 0.9) for the Balkan sample and 4.7 (SD = 0.9) for refugees. In both samples participants were explicitly dissatisfied with their employment and financial situation. Posttraumatic stress symptoms had a strong negative impact on SQOL. Traumatic war events were directly linked with lower SQOL in Balkan residents. The post-war environment influenced SQOL in both groups: unemployment was associated with lower SQOL and recent contacts with friends with higher SQOL. Experiencing more migration-related stressors was linked to poorer SQOL in refugees.Conclusion: Both posttraumatic stress symptoms and aspects of the post-war environment independently influence SQOL in war-affected populations. Aid programmes to improve wellbeing following the traumatic war events should include both treatment of posttraumatic symptoms and social interventions

Matanov, A.

Giacco, D.

Bogic, M.

Ajdukovic, D.

Franciskovic, T.

Galeazzi, G.M.

Kucukalic, A.

Lecic-Tosevski, D.

Morina, N.

Popovski, J.

Schützwohl, M.

Priebe, S.

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

Exposure to traumatic war events may lead to a reduction in quality of life for many years. Research suggests that these impairments may be associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms; however, wars also have a profound impact on social conditions. Systematic studies utilising subjective quality of life (SQOL) measures are particularly rare and research in post-conflict settings is scarce. Whether social factors independently affect SQOL after war in addition to symptoms has not been explored in large scale studies

Bogic, Marija

Ajdukovic, Dean

Franciskovic, Tanja

Kucukalic, Abdulah

Lecic Tosevski, Dusica

Schützwohl, Matthias

GALEAZZI, Gian Maria

Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Aleksandra Matanov

Domenico Giacco

Marija Bogic

Dean Ajdukovic

Tanja Franciskovic

Gian Maria Galeazzi

Abdulah Kucukalic

Dusica Lecic-Tosevski

Nexhmedin Morina

Mihajlo Popovski

Matthias Schützwohl

Stefan Priebe

Crossref

Springer - Publisher Connector

Repozitorij Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu' at University of Zagreb

Background: Exposure to traumatic war events may lead to a reduction in quality of life for many years. Research suggests that these impairments may be associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms; however, wars also have a profound impact on social conditions. Systematic studies utilising subjective quality of life (SQOL) measures are particularly rare and research in post-conflict settings is scarce. Whether social factors independently affect SQOL after war in addition to symptoms has not been explored in large scale studies. Method: War-affected community samples were recruited through a random-walk technique in five Balkan countries and through registers and networking in three Western European countries. The interviews were carried out on average 8 years after the war in the Balkans. SQOL was assessed on Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life - MANSA. We explored the impact of war events, posttraumatic stress symptoms and post-war environment on SQOL. Results: We interviewed 3313 Balkan residents and 854 refugees in Western Europe. The MANSA mean score was 4.8 (SD = 0.9) for the Balkan sample and 4.7 (SD = 0.9) for refugees. In both samples participants were explicitly dissatisfied with their employment and financial situation. Posttraumatic stress symptoms had a strong negative impact on SQOL. Traumatic war events were directly linked with lower SQOL in Balkan residents. The post-war environment influenced SQOL in both groups: unemployment was associated with lower SQOL and recent contacts with friends with higher SQOL. Experiencing more migration-related stressors was linked to poorer SQOL in refugees. Conclusion: Both posttraumatic stress symptoms and aspects of the post-war environment independently influence SQOL in war-affected populations. Aid programmes to improve wellbeing following the traumatic war events should include both treatment of posttraumatic symptoms and social interventions

NARCIS 

Queen Mary Research Online

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http://darhiv.ffzg.unizg.hr/id/eprint/9611/1/1471-2458-13-624.pdf

Subjective quality of life in war-affected populations

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Digitalni arhiv Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Crossref

Springer - Publisher Connector

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

Repozitorij Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu' at University of Zagreb

NARCIS

Springer - Publisher Connector

Queen Mary Research Online