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Kidnapping and Mental Health in Iraqi Refugees: The Role of Resilience

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Abstract

Although kidnapping is common in war-torn countries, there is little research examining its psychological effects. Iraqi refugees (N = 298) were assessed upon arrival to the U.S. and 1 year later. At arrival, refugees were asked about prior trauma exposure, including kidnapping. One year later refugees were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression disorder (MDD) using the SCID-I. Individual resilience and narratives of the kidnapping were also assessed. Twenty-six refugees (9 %) reported being kidnapped. Compared to those not kidnapped, those who were had a higher prevalence of PTSD, but not MDD, diagnoses. Analyses examining kidnapping victims revealed that higher resilience was associated with lower rates of PTSD. Narratives of the kidnapping were also discussed. This study suggests kidnapping is associated with PTSD, but not MDD. Additionally, kidnapping victims without PTSD reported higher individual resilience. Future studies should further elucidate risk and resilience mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, Award Number R01MH085793) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30ES020957). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIMH, nor NIEHS. The authors wish to thank Evone Barkho, M.D., MPH, and Monty Fakhouri, M.S., for their work in collecting data and Mrs. Raja Yaldo for her help with data entry. Sincere thanks to Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, The Kurdish Human Rights Watch, and the Catholic Services of Macomb County for their assistance in participant recruitment. The authors also extend their gratitude to the refugees who participated in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    A. Michelle Wright, Yousif R. Talia, Abir Aldhalimi, Carissa L. Broadbridge, Hikmet Jamil, Bengt B. Arnetz & Judith E. Arnetz

  2. Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    A. Michelle Wright & Mark A. Lumley

  3. Office of the Vice President for Research, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    A. Michelle Wright

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA

    Abir Aldhalimi

  5. Department of Psychology, Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Carissa L. Broadbridge

  6. Department of Family Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, 788 Service Road, Room B106D Clinical Center, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Hikmet Jamil, Bengt B. Arnetz & Judith E. Arnetz

  7. Department of Psychology, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA

    Nnamdi Pole

  8. Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Bengt B. Arnetz & Judith E. Arnetz

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  1. A. Michelle Wright
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  7. Nnamdi Pole
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bengt B. Arnetz.

Appendix: The Resilience Scale

Appendix: The Resilience Scale

Items from The Resilience Scale used in the current study.

  1. 1.

    I feel proud that I have accomplished things in my life.

  2. 2.

    I feel that I can handle many things at a time.

  3. 3.

    My belief in myself helps me get through hard times.

  4. 4.

    In an emergency, I’m someone people can rely on.

  5. 5.

    Sometimes I do things whether I want to or not.

  6. 6.

    My life has meaning.

  7. 7.

    I do not dwell on things I can’t do anything about.

  8. 8.

    When I’m in a difficult situation, I can usually find my way out of it.

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Wright, A.M., Talia, Y.R., Aldhalimi, A. et al. Kidnapping and Mental Health in Iraqi Refugees: The Role of Resilience. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 98–107 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0340-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0340-8

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