Age-developmental stage and severity of trauma related symptoms, anxiety and depressive symptoms in participants who lost their fathers during the war in Croatia

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Title (croatian): Razvojan dob i težina simptoma povezanih s traumom i simptomima anksioznosti i depresije kod ispitanika koji su izgubili očeve tijekom rata u Hrvatskoj
• Author: Ivana Dijanić Plašć
• Author: Sanja Poljarević
• Author: Mladen Lončar
• Author: Neven Henigsberg
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; School of Medicine
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Clinical Medical Sciences

Abstract (english)

Children of different ages will experience a traumatic event in a different ways. The most important in the generalization of research findings is recognizing that children of different ages think differently, act differently and have different emotional functioning. Experiences that are extremely traumatic to an adult may be perceived by a young child as something that is not so frightening. The fear that the child feels will more frequently be a reflection of that of the adult rather than generated by the child’s own perception of the event. So, the individual experience of the trauma is age dependent. Our study focused on children who lost their fathers in conditions of war. The aim was to explore the association between age-developmental stages and the severity of trauma related symptoms, anxiety and depressive symptoms in participants who lost their fathers during the war. The study included 103 people who lost their fathers during the war in Croatia, who came to the physical and psychiatric examination organized by the Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity. The sample was consisted of the participants who were children, or not born yet, at the time when they lost their fathers during the war in Croatia. At the time of interview, the participants were aged between 15 and 35 years old. Data was collected using a structured clinical interview which also included socio-demographic data. Data about former and current psychiatric symptoms were collected using the following instruments: Clinician- Administrated PTSD Scale (CAPS), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA), Hamilton depression scale (HAMD). Results showed that there was significant correlation between age and results on used scales. The participants who lost their fathers at a very young age or even before they were born showed less trauma symptoms (r=0.249; p<0.05) less anxiety (r=0.374; p<0.01) and depressive (r=0.384; p<0.01) symptoms than participants who lost their fathers at an older age. The study confirmed that the individual experience of the trauma of losing a father in war circumstances is associated with age.

Abstract (croatian)

Djeca različite dobi doživljavaju traumatski događaj na različite načine. Prilikom generalizacije rezultata istraživanja najvažnije je razumjeti da djeca različite dobi različito razmišljaju, različito se ponašaju i različito emocionalno funkcioniraju. Iskustva koja su iznimno traumatična za odrasle, malo dijete može shvatiti kao nešto što nije tako zastrašujuće. Također, strah koje dijete osjeća će češće biti odraz straha koji osjećaju odrasli nego što će ga stvoriti djetetov vlastiti doživljaj događaja. Dosadašnja istraživanja su potvrdila da je individualno doživljavanje traume ovisno o dobi. Naše istraživanje usmjereno je na osobe koje su izgubile očeve kao djeca u ratnim uvjetima. Cilj je bio istražiti povezanost između dobi u kojoj su osobe ostale bez oca i težine simptoma vezanih uz traumu, simptoma anksioznosti i simptoma depresije kod ispitanika koji su izgubili očeve za vrijeme rata. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 103 ispitanika koji su izgubili očeve tijekom rata u Hrvatskoj, a koji su došli na tjelesne i psihijatrijske preglede organizirane od Ministarstva obitelji, branitelja i međugeneracijske solidarnosti. Uzorak su sačinjavali sudionici koji su u ratnim okolnostima ostali bez oca u razvojnom životnom periodu od najranije do adolescentne dobi. Podaci su prikupljeni pomoću strukturiranog kliničkog intervjua koji je uključivao i socio-demografske podatke. Podaci o bivšim i sadašnjim psihijatrijskim simptomima su prikupljeni pomoću sljedećih instrumenata: Klinička skala za posttraumatski stresni poremećaj (CAPS), Hamiltonova skala za procjenu anksioznosti (HAMA), Hamiltonova skala za procjenu depresivnosti (HAMD). Rezultati su pokazali da postoji značajna korelacija između dobi i rezultata na korištenim skalama. Sudionici koji su izgubili očeve u vrlo mladoj dobi ili čak prije nego su rođeni pokazali su manje simptoma traume (r=0,249, p<0,05), manje simptoma anksioznosti (r=0,374, p<0,01) i depresije (r=0,384, p<0.01) od sudionika koji su izgubili očeve u starijoj dobi. Istraživanje je potvrdilo da je individualno iskustvo traume zbog gubitka oca u ratnim okolnostima povezano s dobi.

• Keywords (english): Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Anxiety / etiology; Child; Child, Orphaned / psychology; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Croatia; Depression / etiology; Fathers; Female; Humans; Life Change Events; Male; Sex Factors; Stress, Psychological / etiology; Stress, Psychological / psychology; Warfare
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Collegium Antropologicum
• Numbering: vol. 35, no. S. 1, pp. 139-44
• p-ISSN: 0350-6134
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:277024
• Publication: 2011-01
• Document URL: https://hrcak.srce.hr/64060
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2024-03-28 12:02:23