Summary
For this research 175 test subjects were examined,
of whom 70 in the test group were in-patients at the University of
Belgrade Orthopedics Clinics (26, from the Republic of
Srpska/Bosnia and Herzegovina, were traumatized during war time;
44, from Belgrade, were traumatized under peaceful conditions).
The control group contained 105 subjects, 45 of whom experienced
accident related incidents and 60 of whom did not.
The entire group was examined by means of 9 instruments: Event
Effect Scale; PTSS-10 Scale; Family Homogeneity Index (FHI); Brief
Eyseneck’s Personality Inventory; Late Effects of Accidents
Investigation Questionnaire (LEAIQ); General Health Questionnaire
(GHQ-60); General Questionnaire for Accidents; and two further
instruments involving subject histories and inquiries into the
modes of response to the accident effects.
To process the data the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s
chi-square test, discrimination analysis, and calculation of
linear correlation were used.
As to the psychopathological characteristics of the physically
injured: it was established that the highest degree of general
neuroticism and proclivity to PTSS symptoms were found in the
group of those somatically traumatized in war, followed by the
group of those generally traumatized in peacetime, and finally
followed by those somatically traumatized in peacetime. This
finding was illustrated by a statistically significant link of
somatic traumatization in wartime with the experience of vital
threat, loss of a close family member or of the home in the same
trauma.
In a qualitative sense, ranked first in the entire sample are
the symptoms of neurotic somatization (within those the experience
of being distracted), followed by insomnia, symptoms of
depression, and, finally, anxiety. The group of those somatically
traumatized in war responded with mostly hysteric/neurotic
symptoms; the group of those somatically traumatized in peacetime
displayed neurotic and depressive disorders; and the group of
those generally traumatized in peacetime displayed PTSS
symptoms.
In the discussion the results of this study were compared with
similar ones from the literature.
Translation from German: Ross Lerner.
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