Refugee Children in Sweden: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Iranian Preschool Children Exposed to Organized Violence

• NCJ Number: 168010
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1997) Pages: 351-366
• Author(s): K Almqvist; M Brandell-Forsberg
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Fifty preschool children from 47 Iranian families living as refugees in Sweden were assessed individually and their parents were interviewed, to determine their exposure to organized violence and the incidence of post-traumatic stress symptoms in the children.

Abstract

All Iranian refugee families with children ages 4-8 who settled in municipalities in the county of Varmland, Sweden in 1987-88 were asked to take part. Forty-seven of the 49 families agreed to participate. They had 36 boys and 14 girls ages 4-8. Results revealed that the information given by the children increased the prevalence of a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from 2 percent to 21 percent in the 42 children with traumatic exposure through war and political persecution. The amount of traumatic exposure was strongly related to the prevalence of PTSD. The stability of prevalence was also high in a follow-up 2.5 years later in that 23 percent of the children with traumatic exposure still met the full criteria of PTSD according to DSM-III-R. Tables and 34 references (Author abstract modified)