Mental Health in Offspring of Traumatized Refugees with and without Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Intergenerational transmission of psychological trauma and the impact of parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on offspring are controversially discussed. We studied 50 offspring (36 women and 14 men, mean age 42.1 years) of refugees who were severely traumatized as children at the end of World War II. From these, 25 of the refugees currently suffered from chronic PTSD, and 25 had no PTSD. Parental PTSD status did not significantly influence mental health [as per the Symptom Checklist (SCL)-90-R] or quality of life (assessed by the 36-item Short-form Health Survey) in their children. In the entire sample, frequency of talking with the mother about the flight correlated with phobic anxiety (r = 0.67, p = 0.03). Interestingly, the stated burden of having a parent with a history of flight significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with almost all subscales of the SCL-90-R. These results in a non-clinical sample do not support a specific role of parental PTSD in intergenerational trauma transmission. Our other remarkable, but preliminary, results need to be studied in larger samples using more subtle interaction or schema analyses. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder on metabolic risk, quality of life, and stress hormones in aging former refugee children.

It is still unclear whether the association between traumatic stress and physical disease is mediated by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, we examined the long-term consequences of PTSD on cardiovascular risk, stress hormones, and quality of life in a sample of former refugee children who were severely traumatized more than six decades ago. In 25 subjects with chronic PTSD and 25 trauma-controlled subjects, we measured the variables of metabolic syndrome supplemented by the ankle-brachial index and highly sensitive C-reactive protein. Quality of life was assessed using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey. Cortisol, adrenocorticotropin-releasing hormone (ACTH), and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were measured using the low-dose-dexamethasone suppression test. In addition, salivary cortisol was assessed at 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. We found a significant group effect between participants with and without PTSD regarding quality of life but not in any metabolic parameter including the ankle-brachial index or cortisol, ACTH, and DHEA in plasma before and after dexamethasone or salivary cortisol. The postulated association between traumatic stress and physical illness does not appear to be mediated by PTSD in this population. Nevertheless, the search for subgroups of PTSD patients with childhood traumatization leading to different metabolic and endocrine long-term consequences in aging PTSD patients is needed.

[Long-term consequences of flight and expulsion in former refugee children]. / Langzeitfolgen von in der Kindheit am Ende des II. Weltkrieges erlebter Flucht und Vertreibung.

Little is known about long-term consequences of flight and expulsion during childhood. The aim of this study was to interview aging former refugee children about their recollection of traumatic experiences and to screen for full and partial posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their differential impact on today's quality of life and mental health. In 502 participants from the former German eastern territories who were displaced as children at the end of World War II (at the age of 5-12 years) we examined traumatic experiences, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PDS), comorbid symptoms (SCL-90-R), depressive symptoms (BDI) and quality of life (SF-36). 31.5% participants reported posttraumatic stress symptoms indicating current full PTSD, and 33.7% fulfilled the criteria of a current partial PTSD. Participants with full and partial PTSD reported a significantly reduced quality of life, often depressive and comorbid symptoms and were compromised in their well-being compared to participants without PTSD. The study demonstrates the long-term consequences of flight and expulsion during childhood in aging former refugee children more than 60 years later. Posttraumatic stress symptoms play a prominent role for quality of life and well-being in this population.