Trauma exposure, resilience, posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth among Refugees in Kyaka II Settlement in Uganda

Abstract

Refugees experience or witness various traumatic events and these events can have a negative impact on their wellbeing. Whereas some refugees may go on to experience positive outcomes and become more resilient after being exposed to traumatic events, some suffer post trauma challenges such as PTSD. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between trauma exposure, resilience, posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth among refugees in Kyaka II settlement in Uganda. A cross sectional study, correlational in nature was conducted with 181 participants including 100 females. The questionnaires were researcher administered and data were analyzed using SPSS. Pearson correlation was used for relationships and process macro for mediation. A positive significant relationship between trauma exposure and PTSD (r= 0.446, p<0.01); resilience and PTG (r= 0.748, p<0.01); negative significant relationship between trauma exposure and resilience (r= -0.360, p<0.01) and also between resilience and PTSD (r= -0.675, p<0.01) were observed and Resilience was found to mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and PTSD (B = 0.43, 95% CI: [0.27, 0.62]). In conclusion I noted that PTSD and PTG coexist, I also observed that the most common type of traumatic event that the participants reported was physical injury (74%), that majority of the refugees (99.1%) having lived in the host country for a long period of time (1-20 years and the study focused on addressing factors targeting building resilience, PTG and addressing PTSD. Refugees would benefit from comprehensive community mental health services and post-trauma interventions focusing on resilience and post-traumatic growth.