@Article{ijmhp.2023.026852,
AUTHOR = {Erhabor S. Idemudia, Babatola D. Olawa, Gail E. Wyatt, Norweeta G. Milburn},
TITLE = {Reciprocal Association between Psychological Distress and PTSD and Their Relationship with Pre-Displacement Stressors among Displaced Women},
JOURNAL = {International Journal of Mental Health Promotion},
VOLUME = {25},
YEAR = {2023},
NUMBER = {5},
PAGES = {699--710},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/IJMHP/v25n5/52515},
ISSN = {2049-8543},
ABSTRACT = {It is established in the psychological literature that pre-displacement stressors, PTSD symptoms, and psychological distress are associated among internally displaced persons. However, existing studies have not demonstrated
the mechanism underlying these associations. This study compared two explanatory models; one with PTSD
symptoms severity explaining the indirect association between pre-displacement stressors and psychological distress, and the other with psychological distress explaining the indirect relationship between pre-displacement
stressors and PTSD symptoms severity. In a cross-sectional design, 631 women (Mean age = 31.18 ± 8.59) were
conveniently and purposely selected from the displaced women harboured in two camps in Borno State, Nigeria,
due to the Boko-Haram insurgency. Data were collected utilizing structured questionnaires and subjected to path
analyses. Results demonstrated that PTSD symptoms severity and psychological distress indirectly explained their
respective and independent association with pre-displacement stressors. However, PTSD symptoms had a statistically larger standardized indirect effect size, greater indirect effect percentage, and bigger kappa-squared (k2)
effect size than psychological distress. PTSD symptoms and psychological distress may have a reciprocal influence
on each other from pre-displacement stressors. However, PTSD symptoms can better explain the association
between pre-displacement stressors and psychological distress than the other way around. These outcomes have
important implications for the psychological treatment of displaced persons.},
DOI = {10.32604/ijmhp.2023.026852}
}