Do post-migration stressors influence treatment effect in refugees with traumatic grief?

Abstract

Refugees have often experienced traumatic situations such as violence, war, persecution and loss. This makes them highly susceptible to developing mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD). Traumatic grief is experienced by people who have been diagnosed with PTSD and PCBD symptoms following a traumatic loss. Besides the fact that refugees often experience trauma prior to and during migration, refugees who resettle in a new country often experience a lot of post-migration stressors. These stressors involve issues regarding the immigration process such as asylum regulation problems and uncertainty about the future. As well as difficulties in living and social conditions and worries about family members in the home countries in which the conflict may be still ongoing. Post-migration stressors are known to have a negative effect on mental health even over and above the impact of the trauma experiences itself. However, there is a lack of knowledge of how these stressors might influence treatment effects. The present study is aimed at exploring if and how post-migration stressors influence the treatment effect of a day patient treatment for refugees with traumatic grief. It is explored which post-migration stressors played a role in the patient sample; what the treatment effect was in terms of grief symptomatology; and if these stressors were predictors for changes in grief symptomatology. The results suggest that the received treatment had a positive effect on grief-related symptoms of traumatized refugees. There was no indication that post-migration stressors had a negative influence on the treatment effect.