Review article
War Experiences and War-related Distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina Eight Years after War
Gerd Inger Ringdal
; Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Kristen Ringdal
; Department of Sociology and Political Science, Trondheim, Norway
Albert Simkus
; Department of Sociology and Political Science, Trondheim, Norway
Abstract
Aim To examine the relationship between war experiences and war-related
distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Methods The survey was performed in the late 2003 on a representative
sample of 3313 respondents. The face-to-face interviews included 15 items
on war-related distress and 24 items on war experiences. From these items
we developed the War-related Distress Scale, the Direct War Experiences
Scale, and the Indirect War Experiences Scale. Regression analysis was used
to examine the relationship between war-related distress symptoms and war
experiences variables, controlling for a range of other variables.
Results Almost half of the respondents did not report any war-related distress
symptoms, while about 13% reported 7 or more symptoms. Direct war
experiences had a significant effect on war-related distress even eight years
after the war, while indirect war experiences showed no significant effect on
war-related distress. We found that marital status weakly decreased war-related
distress, while household size increased it.
Conclusion Direct war experiences seem to have a long-lasting traumatic effect
on a substantial number of residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Keywords
war experiences; war-related distress; Bosnia-Herzegovina
Hrčak ID:
26095
URI
Publication date:
15.2.2008.
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