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Disasters can have an enormous impact on the health and well-being of those affected. Internationally, governments and service providers are often challenged to address complex psychosocial problems. Ideally, the potentially broad range of support activities include a coherent, high-quality mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programme. We present a theory-driven quantitative analysis of the quality of 40 MHPSS programmes, mostly implemented in European disaster settings. The objective is to measure quality domains recognized as relevant in the literature and to empirically test associations. During the EU project “Operationalizing Psychosocial Support in Crisis” (OPSIC) an evaluation survey was designed and developed for this purpose and completed by 40 MHPSS programme coordinators involved in different mass emergencies and disasters. We analysed the survey data in two steps. Firstly, we used the data to operationalize quality domains of a MHPSS programme, tested constructs and assessed their internal consistency reliability. A total of 26 out of 44 survey items clustered into three of the four domains identified within the theoretical framework: “planning and delivery system” (Cronbach’s alpha 0.82); “general evaluation criteria” (Cronbach’s alpha 0.82); and “essential psychosocial principles” (Cronbach’s alpha 0.75). “Measures and interventions applied”, theoretically a potential fourth domain, could not be confirmed to empirically cluster together. Secondly, several models with associations between domains and measures and interventions were tested and compared. The model with the best fit suggests that in MHPSS programmes with a higher planning and delivery systems score, a larger number of measures and interventions from evidence-informed guidelines are applied. In such programmes, coordinators are more positive about general evaluation criteria and the realization of essential psychosocial principles. Moreover, the analyses showed that some measures and interventions are more likely to be applied in programmes with more evolved planning and delivery systems, yet for most measures and interventions the likelihood of being applied is not linked to planning and delivery system status, nor to coordinator perceptions concerning psychosocial principles and evaluation criteria. Further research is necessary to validate and expand the findings and to learn more about success factors and obstacles for MHPSS programme implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study explored factors to which people traumatized by war attribute their recovery from posttraumatic symptoms and from war experiences. Methods: : In-depth interviews were conducted with two groups of participants with mental sequelae of the war in the former Yugoslavia: 26 people who had recovered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 17 people with ongoing symptoms of PTSD. Participants could attribute their recovery to any event, person or process in their life. The material was subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Eight themes covered all factors to which participants attributed their recovery. Six themes described healing factors relevant for both groups of participants: social attachment and support, various strategies of coping with symptoms, personality hardiness, mental health treatment, received material support, and normalization of everyday life. In addition to the common factors, recovered participants reported community involvement as healing, and recovered refugees identified also feeling safe after resolving their civil status as helpful. Unique to the recovered group was that they maintained reciprocal relations in social attachment and support, employed future-oriented coping and emphasised their resilient personality style. Conclusions: The reported factors of recovery are largely consistent with models of mental health protection, models of resilience and recommended interventions in the aftermath of massive trauma. Yet, they add the importance of a strong orientation towards the future, a reciprocity in receiving and giving social support and involvement in meaningful activities that ensure social recognition as a productive and valued individual. The findings can inform psychosocial interventions to facilitate recovery from posttraumatic symptoms of people affected by war and upheaval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: War experiences can affect mental health, but large-scale studies on the long-term impact are rare. We aimed to assess long-term mental health consequences of war in both people who stayed in the conflict area and refugees. Method: On average 8 years after the war in former Yugoslavia, participants were recruited by probabilistic sampling in 5 Balkan countries and by registers and networking in 3 Western European countries. General psychological symptoms were assessed on the Brief Symptom Inventory and posttraumatic stress symptoms on the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. Results: We assessed 3,313 interviewees in the Balkans and 854 refugees. Paranoid ideation and anxiety were the severest psychological symptoms in both samples. In multivariable regressions, older age, various specific war experiences and more traumatic experiences after the war were all associated with higher levels of both general psychological and posttraumatic stress symptoms in both samples. Additionally, a greater number of migration stressors and having only temporary legal status in the host country were associated with greater severity of symptoms in refugees. Conclusions: Psychological symptoms remain high in war-affected populations many years after the war, and this is particularly evident for refugees. Traumatic war experiences still predict higher symptom levels even when the findings have been adjusted for the influence of other factors. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which evaluates the prevalence rates of mental disorders in people who experienced the war in Balkan Peninsula and the factors related to its occurrence. The study uses a random-walk technique for selecting interviewees from war-affected communities including Croatia, Kosovo, and Serbia. The result shows that the rates of mental disorders across countries are high and the influential factors are unemployment and more potentially traumatic experiences before the war.

The article offers information on the 13th meeting of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) in Bologna, Italy in 2013.