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Exploring Psychological Distress in Burundi During and After the Armed Conflict

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Abstract

We assessed symptoms of psychological distress among a population-based sample of 9000-plus adults in Burundi during (1998) and after (2007) armed conflict. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to an 8-item, self-report measure, we identified two domains of psychological distress “Depression/Anxiety” and “Functioning” with good fit to data. The questionnaire was invariant in males and females. Depression and Anxiety symptoms during conflict were more frequently reported than Functioning symptoms; all symptoms were more frequently reported by women. Psychological distress was found in 44 % of individuals during conflict and in 29 % 2 years after the conflict. Results call for further research in Burundi that can inform the development of mental health interventions.

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Acknowledgments

Data collection was financed by the MICROCON project under the European Union 6th Framework and was implemented in cooperation with the National Institute of Statistics and Economics in Burundi (ISTEEBU).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Michigan State University, 965 Fee Road, East Fee Hall, A227, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Itziar Familiar

  2. Global and Community Mental Health Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau, People’s Republic of China

    Brian Hall

  3. World Bank, Rwanda Office, Kigali, Rwanda

    Tom Bundervoet

  4. ECARES and Center Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economic and Management, Universite Libre de Bruxeles, Brussels, Belgium

    Philip Verwimp

  5. Mental Health Department, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Judith Bass

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  1. Itziar Familiar
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  2. Brian Hall
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  4. Philip Verwimp
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  5. Judith Bass
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Correspondence to Itziar Familiar.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Familiar, I., Hall, B., Bundervoet, T. et al. Exploring Psychological Distress in Burundi During and After the Armed Conflict. Community Ment Health J 52, 32–38 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9902-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9902-4

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