Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder among displaced Kurdish children in Iraq - victims of a man-made disaster after the Gulf war

Abstract

After the Gulf war, the Iraqi military attack on Kurdistan intensified and resulted at the end of March 1991 in a sudden and almost total evacuation of the area in northern Iraq. Being exposed to the military actions, including fire from helicopters and artillery, and because of fear of chemical weapons, more than 3 million people were forced to leave their homes in panic and to move towards the borders of Turkey and Iran. Among those families who were displaced in temporary camps on the Turkish border, 20 children aged 6-16 years were interviewed about their experience of stress symptoms, focusing on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in particular. The interviews were conducted 2 months after the disaster and again at a 2-month follow-up when the children had returned with their families back to the home regions. All of the examined children showed some PTSD symptoms. At the index interview, however, only four of them fulfilled the criteria for PTSD according to DSM-III-R, and none of them did so at the follow-up. Children's risk of developing PTSD symptoms is discussed with regard to family construction, social support, and the parents' previous exposure to violence.