Coping with loss and bereavement in post-war Tigray, Ethiopia

Psychological and environmental factors influencing resilience among Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons: a systematic review of coping strategies and risk and protective factors

Background

There is much discussion in the literature about the link between traumatic events related to war and mental illness. However, in comparison, mental health has been more researched than protective factors such as coping methods, which are the primary factors to build resilience in these circumstances. This review examines the psychological and environmental elements that influence the resilience of Ukrainian refugees and IDPs by analyzing coping strategies and risk and protective factors.

Methods

A literature search was conducted on PsycINFO, Pubmed, Scopus, and Science Direct, with 259 articles screened and 13 determined as eligible for inclusion. Inclusion criteria were: (1) studies on adult Ukrainian refugees and/or IDPs; (2) original, peer-reviewed studies; and (3) studies written in English or Italian language. Single-case reports and qualitative studies were excluded, as well as those studies written in any other language, and any studies for which the full-text version could not be obtained (i.e., conference abstracts). Two reviewers independently reviewed titles and abstracts, reviewed relevant articles' full text, and extracted the data.

Results

A diverse range of individual and socio-environmental risk and protective factors were identified, influencing the resilience of Ukrainian refugees and IDPs, as well as five main categories of coping strategies: emotion-focused strategies, problem-focused strategies, avoidance, faith-based strategies, and the ones based on sense of belonging.

Discussion

War trauma and associated stressors can lead to distressing physical and psychological reactions, which persist even after leaving the war zone. Many individual and socio-environmental risk factors, such as mental disorders, financial security, having relatives wounded or displaced, and an unfamiliar environment could influence the risk and severity of psychological difficulties, emphasizing the importance of coping strategies, social connections, faith, and cultural resilience.

Conclusion

This systematic review underscores the complex range of coping strategies and factors influencing the resilience of Ukrainian refugees and IDPs. Social connections and inclusive community interventions play vital roles in improving their psychological well-being, while longitudinal studies and culturally sensitive support are needed to address their unique challenges and strengths. Implementing collaborative care models can provide comprehensive support by integrating mental health services with primary healthcare and community-based organizations.

Coping with the long-term impact of civil strife: A grief-centered analysis of Tamil Sri Lankan communities affected by ethnopolitical conflict

Limited research has examined coping mechanisms in response to chronic war-related stressors, as opposed to war-exposure trauma. The current study sought to investigate the types of losses experienced by communities affected by the Sri Lankan conflict, how participants responded to their losses, and what coping mechanisms they employed. Data consisted of interviews from two independent investigations conducted following the end of the conflict in Northern Sri Lanka (total N = 103). Interview transcripts were analyzed using a directed content analysis approach. Participants most frequently described experiencing material loss and loss of loved ones. Relatedly, participants commonly reported experiencing ambiguous loss, that is, living with the uncertainty of their loved one's death. These losses were particularly pronounced by gender, with women experiencing higher rates of loss. Common coping strategies included support-seeking, including informal support from social networks and religion, and formal mental health services. Additionally, participants described a range of longer term coping strategies from establishing a future-oriented cognitive style to a sense of helplessness and resignation. The findings shed light on how conflict-affected groups cope with profound loss. We provide recommendations for how such findings can inform grief-related clinical interventions.

The relationship between religiosity/spirituality and quality of life among female Eritrean refugees living in Norwegian asylum centres

BACKGROUND

Women are more vulnerable to mental health problems than men after migration, but little is known about the influence of religiosity/spirituality on their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore religiosity/spirituality, in relationships with various domains of quality of life, among female Eritrean refugees staying in Norwegian asylum centres.

METHOD

A questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics was used together with the World Health OrganizationQuality of Life - Spirituality, Religiosity and Personal Beliefs (WHOQOL-SRPB) questionnaire, which assesses religiosity/spirituality and domains of quality of life. A total of 63 adult female Eritrean refugees who had been granted asylum but were still living in asylum reception centres located in southern and central Norway participated.

RESULTS

Religiosity/spirituality was independently associated with psychological quality of life (B = 0.367, p < .001), level of independence (B = 0.184, p = .028), social quality of life (B = 0.500, p = .003), environmental quality of life (B = 0.323, p < .001) and overall quality of life (B = 0.213, p < .001), but not with physical quality of life (B = 0.056, p = .679). There were no significant differences between religious affiliations on religiosity/spirituality or quality of life measures.

CONCLUSION

Consistent with previous research, this study highlights the correlation between religiosity/spirituality and overall quality of life. We recommend a longitudinal follow-up study of similar populations, after they are resettled and integrated into their host countries, to understand the associations between quality of life and religiosity/spirituality over time.

Coping strategies among conflict-affected adults in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic literature review

Mental health is recognised as a key issue for populations affected by conflict. The aim of this systematic literature review is to examine coping strategies among conflict-affected civilians in low- and middle-income countries. The objectives were to examine (1) the types of coping strategies used by conflict-affected civilians; (2) factors influencing coping strategies; (3) relationships between coping strategies and mental health outcomes. A database search was conducted on May 13, 2014. Qualitative and quantitative studies that report on coping strategies used by adult conflict-affected civilians in LMICs were included, yielding 50 articles. Coping strategies were organised into a typology of problem-solving, support seeking, escape-avoidance, distraction, and positive cognitive restructuring domains. Support-seeking, positive cognitive restructuring, and problem-solving domains were the most frequently reported coping domains across the articles. Significant factors influencing coping included gender and exposure to trauma. The relationship between coping and mental health outcomes was nuanced. The diverse findings reported across the studies reflect the variety of contexts from which the samples are drawn, the range of coping typologies, and differing methodological approaches to exploring coping and mental health. Context-specific studies are needed in order to capture the social and cultural influences on coping and mental health.

Group Mental Health Interventions in Civilian Populations in War-Conflict Areas

Purpose: Cognitive behavioral (CB) group therapy is an effective therapeutic intervention to treat war-related trauma. The aim of this pilot study was to describe the effects of conducting CB group therapy in a civilian population exposed to war in southern Lebanon. Method: Participants presenting with psychiatric symptoms attended an 8-week CB group therapy intervention adapted to the Lebanese culture. Observations from therapists’ field notes were reviewed and grouped into commonalities. Findings: A majority of the total participants ( N = 10) reported satisfaction with the CB therapy and a decrease in symptoms. Field notes revealed positive group interactions (i.e., sharing information, cohesiveness), therapeutic benefits (i.e., symptom identification, destigmatizing mental illness, learning coping strategies), and barriers to attendance (i.e., stigma, personal constraints). Conclusion and Implications: CB group therapy is a promising intervention for civilian survivors of war trauma. Challenges to conducting such interventions in a war-conflict area are discussed. Future research and intervention planning should address challenges faced during this study to better meet mental health needs.

From PTSD to "national trauma": the case of the Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War

Since its establishment in 1998, NATAL, "The Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War," has been propagating the notion of national trauma as a comprehensive category of suffering related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Against the shifting perceptions of PTSD in Israel, we explore recent undertakings of NATAL's experts to naturalize trauma among "pre-clinical" populations of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veterans. The experts' attempts to de-politicize the suffering of the veterans are constrained by the fact that in their clinical ideology, the apolitical language of the therapeutic is aligned with a somber national pathos that strikes a collective cord of common Jewish fate and identity. This alignment may account for the Israeli public's acceptance of NATAL's agenda, despite its subversive connotations.

The psychologization of humanitarian aid: skimming the battlefield and the disaster zone

Humanitarian aid's psycho-therapeutic turn in the 1990s was mirrored by the increasing emotionalization and subjectivation of fund-raising campaigns. In order to grasp the depth of this interconnectedness, this article argues that in both cases what we see is the post-Fordist production paradigm at work; namely, as Hardt and Negri put it, the direct production of subjectivity and social relations. To explore this, the therapeutic and mental health approach in humanitarian aid is juxtaposed with the more general phenomenon of psychologization. This allows us to see that the psychologized production of subjectivity has a problematic waste-product as it reduces the human to 'Homo sacer', to use Giorgi Agamben's term. Drawing out a double matrix of a de-psychologizing psychologization connected to a politicizing de-politicization, it will further become possible to understand psycho-therapeutic humanitarianism as a case of how, in these times of globalization, psychology, subjectivity and money are all interrelated.