Adolescent Survivors of “Ethnic Cleansing”: Observations on the First Year in America

Stevan Merill Weine · Daniel F. Becker · Thomas H. McGlashan · Dolores Vojvoda · Stephen Hartman · Judith Robbins

119 citations0/0 files storedJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Child Abuse and Trauma Migration, Health and Trauma

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the psychiatric assessments and trauma testimonies of 12 Bosnian adolescents newly resettled in America. METHOD: Twelve Bosnian adolescents who experienced the massive psychic trauma of "ethnic cleansing" were assessed during the first year after their resettlement in the United States. Assessments consisted of systematic, trauma-focused, clinical interviews that included standard assessment scales of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, as well as the opportunity to give testimony about their experiences. RESULTS: PTSD was diagnosed in 25% of subjects and depressive disorders in 17%. Reexperiencing cluster symptoms were present in 50%, avoidance cluster symptoms in 31%, and hyperarousal cluster symptoms in 29%. CONCLUSIONS: The relatively low rate of PTSD in this sample (in comparison with adult survivors of "ethnic cleansing" and with Cambodian adolescent survivors) may be attributable to normal prior development, time-limited adversity, lack of physical or sexual traumas, rejoining nuclear families, or insufficient time for the development of delayed-onset PTSD. It may also be a reflection of the resiliency of adolescence.

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