Abstract
International relief and development personnel may be directly or indirectly exposed to traumatic events that put them at risk for developing symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In order to identify areas of risk and related reactions, surveys were administered to 113 recently returned staff from 5 humanitarian aid agencies. Respondents reported high rates of direct and indirect exposure to life-threatening events. Approximately 30% of those surveyed reported significant symptoms of PTSD. Multiple regression analysis revealed that personal and vicarious exposure to life-threatening events and an interaction between social support and exposure to life threat accounted for a significant amount of variance in PTSD severity. These results suggest the need for personnel programs; predeployment training, risk assessment, and contingency planning may better prepare personnel for service.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Butler, R. W., Foy, D. W., Snodgrass, L., Hurwicz, J., & Goldfarb, J. (1988). Combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder in a nonpsychiatric population. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2, 111–120.
Clay, R. (1999, April). Healing the scars from Rwanda's war. APA Monitor, 30, 28.
Flannery, R. B. (1990). Social support and psychological trauma: A methodological review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 593–611.
Foy, D. W., Sipprelle, R. C., Rueger, D. B., & Carroll, E. M. (1984). Etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans: Analysis of premilitary, military, and combat exposure influences. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 79–87.
Fullerton, C. S., McCarroll, J. E., Ursano, R. J., & Wright, K. M. (1992). Psychological responses of rescue workers: Fire fighters and trauma. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 62, 371–378.
Kessler, R. C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M., & Nelson, C. B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048–1060.
King, D. W., King, L. A., Foy, D. W., & Gudanowski, D. M. (1996). Prewar factors in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder: Structural equation modeling with a national sample of female and male Vietnam veterans. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 520–531.
King, L. A., King, D. W., Leskin, G., & Foy, D. W. (1995). The Los Angeles Symptom Checklist: A self-report measure of posttraumatic stress disorder. Assessment, 2, 1–17.
Macksoud, M. (1992). Assessing war trauma in children: A case study of Lebanese children. Journal of Refugee Studies, 5, 1–15.
Marmar, C. R., Weiss, D. S., Metzler, T. J., Ronfeldt, H. M., & Foreman, C. (1996). Stress responses of emergency services personnel to the Loma Prieta earthquake Interstate 880 freeway collapse and control traumatic incidents. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 63–85.
McCann, I. L., & Pearlman, L. A. (1990) Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 131–149.
McCall, M., & Salama, P. (1999). Selection, training, and support of relief workers: An occupational health issue. British Medical Journal, 318, 113–116.
Procidano, M. E., & Heller, K. (1983). Measures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 1–24.
Resnick, H. S., Kilpatrick, D. G., Best, C. L., & Kramer, T. L. (1992). Vulnerability-stress factors in development of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 424–430.
Richters, J., & Saltzman, W. (1990). The survey of children's exposure to community violence. Washington, DC: National Institute of Mental Health.
Schauben, L. J., & Frazier, P. A. (1995). Vicarious trauma: The effects on female counselors of working with sexual violence survivors. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19, 49–64.
Slim, H. (1994, September). The continuing metamorphosis of the humanitarian professional: Some new colours for an endangered chameleon. Paper presented at the 1994 Development Studies Association Conference, Lancaster, UK.
Smith, B., Agger, I., Danieli, Y., & Weisaeth, L. (1996). Health activities across traumatized populations: Emotional responses of international humanitarian aid workers. In Y. Danieli, N. S. Rodley, & L. Weisaeth (Eds.), International responses to traumatic stress (pp. 397–423). Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing.
SPSS 9.0.0 for Windows [Computer software]. (1998). Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.
Turner, C. (1998, August 2). Humanitarian U.N. work is risky business. The Los Angeles Times, pp. A1, A8, A9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Eriksson, C.B., Kemp, H.V., Gorsuch, R. et al. Trauma Exposure and PTSD Symptoms in International Relief and Development Personnel. J Trauma Stress 14, 205–212 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007804119319
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007804119319