Professional and Volunteer Refugee Aid Workers-Depressive Symptoms and Their Predictors, Experienced Traumatic Events, PTSD, Burdens, Engagement Motivators and Support Needs.

Andrea Borho,Theresa Grimm,Ekaterini Georgiadou,Yesim Erim,Winfried Nißlbeck,Eva Morawa,Andrea Silbermann

doi:10.3390/ijerph16224542

Abstract

In 2016, the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital of Erlangen started conducting training for professional and voluntary aid workers. In total, 149 aid workers took part in the training courses, of which 135 completed the corresponding questionnaires. Engagement motivators, perceived distress in refugee work and training needs were examined. Moreover, depressive symptoms, the prevalence of traumatic experiences and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder were explored. Participants named helping others as the highest motivating factor for their work with refugees and communication problems as the main burden. Thirteen aid workers (10.1%) showed clinically relevant depressive symptoms. In total, 91.4% of refugee aid workers had experienced at least one traumatic event personally or as a witness but only three (3.6%) fulfilled the psychometric requirements of a PTSD diagnosis. These three participants all belonged to the professional aid workers (6.3%). More severe symptoms of depression were significantly associated with female gender (β = 0.315, p = 0.001), higher perceived burdens of refugee work (β = 0.294, p = 0.002), and a larger number of experienced traumatic events (β = 0.357, p < 0.001). According to our results, we recommend psychological trainings and regular screenings for psychological stress in order to counteract possible mental illnesses.

Highlights

Today, massive displacement and refugee movements are increasing social problems [1]
Returning to one of our initial questions on the motivational factors of refugee work, we revealed that every voluntary aid workers (VAD) and 66% of the professional aid workers (PAD) wanted to “help others”
As significant predictors of the severity of depressive symptoms, we identified female gender, higher perceived burdens of refugee work, and a larger number of experienced traumatic events

Summary

Introduction

Massive displacement and refugee movements are increasing social problems [1]. The integration and inclusion of asylum seekers is a permanent challenge for the European societies [2]. At the peak of the European refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016, more than 2.6 million asylum seekers were registered in the European Union, with 1.2 million registrations in Germany alone, more than ever before [3]. With an asylum application number of 476,649 in Germany in 2015, this corresponds to an increase of 135% compared to the previous year and in 2016 this number rose again by 63.5%. Compared to 2015 [4,5]. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4542; doi:10.3390/ijerph16224542 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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