Abstract
BackgroundPopulations exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences (ACE) show different levels of impact in their mental health (i.e. clinical and positive components); however, there is limited evidence related to mental health of general population (civilians not classified as victims) exposed to ACE. Government guided mental health assessments exclude this population. The use of a newly validated Extreme Experiences Scale (EX2) seems appropriate to classify victims, ex-combatants, and civilians for their mental health assessment.MethodsHere, we propose a novel approach to identify relationships between individuals classified with different levels of ACE exposure—independent of their legal role in the armed conflict, and mental health outcomes. According to the cut-off points derived from the scores of EX2, we classified the sample in low and high exposure to ACE.ResultsThe high-level ACE group (scores > 2.5) included 119 subjects, and the low-level ACE was constituted by 66 subjects. Our results evidence that people with high exposure to ACE experiment higher odds to present anxiety disorders, risk of suicide, or post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as increased cognitive empathy (i.e., fantasy dimension).ConclusionThese findings allowed us to identify the influence of ACE on mental health outcomes beyond the conventional frame (victim or ex-combatant), and to discuss effective interventions and implementation of mental health strategies in these communities. We expect to help the health system to focus on key vulnerable subjects by including civilians not recognized as victims, which are neglected from most of the public health screening, assessment, and interventions.
Highlights
Populations exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences (ACE) show different levels of impact in their mental health; there is limited evidence related to mental health of general population exposed to ACE
We found significant differences characterized by a large proportion of anxiety disorders (22.2%) in the high ACE group, in Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
This study aimed to evaluate mental health outcomes in a sample with different levels of ACE calculated by the Extreme Experience Scale (EX2) scale, a variable that we hypothesized influences the appearance of mental health outcomes
Summary
Populations exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences (ACE) show different levels of impact in their mental health (i.e. clinical and positive components); there is limited evidence related to mental health of general population (civilians not classified as victims) exposed to ACE. Index (IRI) assessment [5] They found that ex-combatants and victims with low empathic scores showed lower neuropsychological rates in working memory and inhibitory control than those with high empathy [5, 6]. Other studies such as the Colombian Mental Health Survey [7] used semi-structured surveys like the SelfReporting Questionnaire (SRQ) and socio-demographic questionnaires in civilians [8, 9]. Other studies identified that civilians exposed to ACE experienced a higher prevalence of mental health disorders with emotional and psychological affections [8, 10,11,12]
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