Subjective assessment of quality of life of persons whose fathers had died in the homeland war.

The aim of this paper is to show the current subjective assessment of the quality of life of persons whose fathers had died in war, and compare it with regard to some of their socio-demographic characteristics. The study included 494 participants who had come for a physical and psychiatric examination to one of the health institutions in Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek or Split in which examinations were arranged. The inclusion criterion was growing up in a single-parent family as a consequence of the father dying in war. Data were collected using a structured clinical interview which also included socio-demographic data: the age and gender of the participant, educational status, marital status, employment status, household income. Also, participants were asked to fill out the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire - short form (WHOQOL-BREF). Data obtained from this study are descriptive, and are in line with the data obtained on the general population when it comes to comparisons of the assessment of quality of life and certain demographic characteristics. Special emphasis should be given to the link between age and overall satisfaction with the quality of life, with younger persons being more satisfied with the total quality of life than the older study participants. In conclusion, all participants of this study had a specific traumatic experience during the war - their father's death, therefore more data regarding the quality of life of this population can be expected upon a more detailed analysis and establishment of the contribution of traumatization, socio-demographic variables and current mental health to the explanation of the subjective satisfaction with life. A more detailed analysis of the collected data will be available in subsequent papers.

Quality of life in families of Croatian veterans 15 years after the war.

Exposure to war trauma with its consequences such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disability due to combat injuries poses a significant problem for modern Croatian society. However, this is also a public health problem requiring continuous study of effective treatment strategies to achieve an increase in quality of life of most war-affected groups. Aim of this study was to examine the quality of life of population most affected by war - families of Croatian veterans. Present study included 126 female participants, who agreed to complete physical and psychiatric examination organized by the Ministry of Family, War Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity. Included were participants with status of either wife of war veteran suffering from PTSD, wife who lost her husband in war circumstances or wife of war veteran with physical disabilities resulting from war activities. All three groups were asked to fill out the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire - short form (WHOQOL-BREF). Results indicate that assumed intensity of secondary trauma is not associated with quality of life. Namely, the highest level of satisfaction was found in wives of the most seriously affected invalids of war (M=3.77; sd=0.741), folowed by the wives of deceased soldiers (M=3.5; sd= 0.697), while the lowest quality of life results were found in wives of veterans suffering from PTSD (M=3.12; sd=0.608). Our results confirm that, nearly 15 years after the war, wives of disabled or killed Croatian soldiers have a (comparatively) satisfactory quality of their everyday lives, compared to the wives of veterans suffering from PTSD.

Secondary victimization of war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: the croatian experience.

This paper discusses the phenomenon of secondary victimization or revictimization of Croatian war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This revictimization is mainly characterized by a disappointing institutional response from the helping professions, together with a lack of social recognition and support after the war. Also, we describe the "blaming the victim" process in which the veterans with PTSD were accused for bringing their maladies on themselves due to their premorbid psychological characteristics. This paper traces the origins of these phenomena in Croatia and compares them to other traumatized populations throughout the world, adding to the established body of knowledge which confirms that denial of PTSD in war veterans is a widespread social occurrence which spans over history, crossing national and cultural boundaries.