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Trauma and suicidality in war affected communities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

J. Jankovic ,
S. Bremner ,
M. Bogic ,
D. Lecic-Tosevski ,
D. Ajdukovic ,
T. Franciskovic ,
G.M. Galeazzi ,
A. Kucukalic ,
N. Morina  and
M. Popovski
...Show all authors
J. Jankovic*
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Dudley, UK
S. Bremner
Affiliation:
Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
M. Bogic
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
D. Lecic-Tosevski
Affiliation:
Belgrade University School of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
D. Ajdukovic
Affiliation:
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
T. Franciskovic
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
G.M. Galeazzi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
A. Kucukalic
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
N. Morina
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
M. Popovski
Affiliation:
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Skopje, FYR, Macedonia
M. Schützwohl
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
S. Priebe
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Queen Mary University of London, Academic Unit, Newham Centre for Mental Health, Cherry Tree Way, Glen Road, London, E13 8SP, United Kingdom. Tel.: +44 02 07 54 04 210; fax: +44 02 07 54 02 976. E-mail address:j.jankovic@qmul.ac.uk (J. Jankovic).
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Abstract

Purpose

The aim was to assess whether experiences of war trauma remain directly associated with suicidality in war affected communities when other risk factors are considered.

Materials and methods

In the main sample 3313 participants from former Yugoslavia who experienced war trauma were recruited using a random sampling in five Balkan countries. In the second sample 854 refugees from former Yugoslavia recruited through registers and networking in three Western European countries. Sociodemographic and data on trauma exposure, psychiatric diagnoses and level of suicidality were assessed.

Results

In the main sample 113 participants (3.4%) had high suicidality, which was associated with number of potentially traumatic war experiences (odds ratio 1.1) and war related imprisonment (odds ratio 3) once all measured risk factors were considered. These associations were confirmed in the refugee sample with a higher suicidality rate (10.2%).

Discussion and conclusions

Number of potentially traumatic war experiences, in particular imprisonment, may be considered as a relevant risk factor for suicidality in people affected by war.

Keywords

PTSDWarSuicide
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 28 , Issue 8 , October 2013 , pp. 514 - 520
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS

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