Trauma and mental health in Darfuri asylum seekers: The effect of trauma type and the mediating role of interpersonal sensitivity.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has well documented the negative effect of exposure to war trauma on refugees' mental health. However, few prior investigations have examined the nature of the traumatic events and the potential mechanisms involved. METHODS: This study explored the mediating role of interpersonal sensitivity in the relationship between exposure to different types of war traumas and psychological stress in a community sample of 300 Darfuri asylum seekers living in Israel. RESULTS: A principal component analysis on a set of 17 traumatic experiences identified four trauma dimensions: War-exposure, Life-threat, Torture-Assault and Sexual-violence. Hierarchical regressions showed that only degree of exposure to Life-threat trauma was a significant predictor of PTSD and depressive symptom severity. Mediation analyses further revealed that interpersonal sensitivity partially mediated the association between exposure to life threat and PTSD symptoms and fully mediated the relation between exposure to life threat and depressive symptoms. LIMITATIONS: The current study was limited by the use of self-report measures and cross-sectional design. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the importance of taking into account the nature of war events and the presence of negative beliefs about oneself within interpersonal interactions when studying mental health outcomes in traumatized refugees. Implications for theory, clinical practice and future research are discussed.