Abstract
The concept of disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified (DESNOS) was designed to encompass the psychopathological consequences of interpersonal and ongoing traumatic experiences. This study examined the prevalence rate of DESNOS among students who reported having gone through war experiences. The sample consisted of 55 Kosovar students who had been exposed to war-related events. The various variables were recorded with the Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). 16.4% of the participants met the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder but none of them could be diagnosed as suffering from DESNOS. However, the symptoms somatization, altered relationships, and altered systems of meaning were reported by 21-37% of the participants. The DESNOS total score was found to be a better predictor of psychiatric distress than posttraumatic stress symptoms. The results argue against the validity of DESNOS as a diagnostic construct for evaluating the effects of war traumatisation. Further study is necessary to determine whether changes in the individual subscales are relevant to the assessment of psychological aftereffects of war.
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