Differences and similarities in posttraumatic stress between economic migrants and forced migrants: Acculturation and mental health within a Turkish and a Kurdish sample

This paper describes an empirical study that aimed to expand the limited literature about the association of acculturation with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among immigrant ethnic minorities. The second contribution of the study is its understanding that migrants from the same country are not one separate group and for interventions to succeed, better understanding of the situation in each sub-group is required. Two samples of Turkish immigrants in The Netherlands - Turks (n = 222) and Kurds (n = 130) - that differ by ethnic/religious background, reasons for migration and exposure to political violence are compared. Individuals who experienced one or more traumatic events were selected. Results show that posttraumatic reactions were highly related to mental health state in both groups. In addition, a specific aspect of cultural adaptation, cultural affiliation, was significantly related to posttraumatic symptoms - however, in opposite direction for both groups: Turkish respondents who held to their traditions were less vulnerable for posttraumatic stress whereas Kurdish participants who lived by their traditions were more vulnerable for posttraumatic problems. The implications of these findings for posttraumatic stress theory and mental health professionals working with traumatized migrant populations are considered.

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Reference: 
Jeroen W. Knipscheer, Annelieke N. Drogendijk, Cheko H. Gülsen, & Rolf J. Kleber | 2009
In: International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, ISSN 2174-0852 | 9 | 3 | 373-391
http://www.aepc.es/ijchp/articulos_pdf/ijchp-328.pdf