A 26-month follow-up of posttraumatic stress symptoms in children after the mass-escape tragedy in Iraqi Kurdistan

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Gulf War, an Iraqi military attack caused a mass-escape tragedy in Kurdistan. Two months later, a sample of displaced children on the Iraqi-Turkish border reported a high frequency of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Twenty per cent of the examined children met DSM-III-R criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After a decrease in symptoms at the 4-month follow-up, the 14-month follow-up showed a significant increase in PTSD-related symptoms, which persisted even at the 26-month follow-up. The results are discussed in relation to the specificity of PTSD symptoms, their course over time, and the sociocultural aspects in measuring post-traumatic stress symptoms.