The relationship between post‐traumatic symptoms and life in exile in a clinical group of refugees from the former Yugoslavia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between life situation factors and post-traumatic symptoms among refugees from the former Yugoslavia. METHOD: Twenty-six refugees from the former Yugoslavia were examined by the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire during psychiatric treatment, and 3 years later. At follow-up they also answered a questionnaire regarding their life situations. RESULT: A higher post-traumatic symptom level at follow-up was associated with a pattern of negative living conditions such as open unemployment, social isolation, and a high dependence on social welfare. Gender differences were found regarding the factors most related to symptom severity. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that a main problem in this patient group may be how to break vicious circles of high symptom levels and a poor life situation which suggests a need for integrated rehabilitation efforts.