A Study of Psychological Problem in Yazidi Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Background: The so-called “Islamic State” slaughtered theYazidis in 2014 on Sinjar, when it was marked by utmost violence including genocidal acts against the Yazidis population. This study aims to investigate the resulting psychological problems in Yazidis children and adolescents. Methods: The present study was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted in 2016 - 2017. The population comprised of displaced Yazidi children (8 - 15 years old) in Khanak Camp of Dohuk. The sample included 100 children, from which 51participants were omitted due to their reluctance or to incomplete checklists. Finally, 49 subjects (30 females and 19 males) participated in the study. Data were collected by demographic questionnaire and youth pediatric syndromes checklist-17. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS-22. Results: The results indicated that 65.3% of participants scored above the cut-off (15). Then, more than half of participants suffered from psychological problems. Since the PSY checklist is composed of three subscales, each subscale was also an analysis. Females scored higher than males in total scores, as well as in all subscales. Boys only scored higher in externalizing. The mean score also increased with age in all subscales. The result of analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that, on the internalization scale which deals with the probability of anxiety and depression, the females were more vulnerable. Also, probability of psychological problems in ages 8–10 was less than for other participants. Conclusions: In line with previous studies, this study showed that psychological problems are common in displaced Yazidi children. In addition, with the prevalence of psychological problems there was a relationship between gender and age.