Complicated grief in Bosnian refugees: Associations with posttraumatic stress disorder and depression
Section snippets
Sample
One hundred twenty-six Bosnian Muslim refugees (hereafter referred to as Bosnian refugees) were recruited from the larger Bosnian community residing in Sydney, Australia. Although several ethnic groups experienced trauma during the war, most survivors of ethnic cleansing were from the Muslim group.6, 28, 29
Random epidemiologic sampling was not feasible given the absence of a central register of refugees in Australia and the wide geographic distribution of Bosnian refugees in Sydney. Telephone
Demographic characteristics
The sample consisted of 77 women (61%) and 49 men (39%). The mean age was 47 (range, 18 to 88) years. Seventy-seven percent were married and 92% had at least one child. Eighty-seven percent had completed high school and 13% held a university degree. Sixty-two percent had been employed in factory or sales work in Bosnia and 14% were professionals. Ninety-six percent were unemployed in Australia and 74% spoke little or no English. Subjects originated from 25 different cities and villages across
Discussion
The range of traumas experienced and the types of disorders identified were consistent with those reported in studies of Bosnian refugees in other settings.5, 8, 50, 51 Limitations of the study included the modest sample size and the nonrandom selection of subjects. It seems that our community center snowball sampling technique yielded a group with high levels of psychopathology. The rate of PTSD of 63% was broadly in keeping with the findings of previous studies undertaken among high-risk
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