TY - JOUR
T1 - Civilians in World War II and DSM-IV mental disorders
T2 - results from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative
AU - Frounfelker, Rochelle
AU - Gilman, Stephen E.
AU - Betancourt, Theresa S.
AU - Aguilar-Gaxiola, Sergio
AU - Alonso, Jordi
AU - Bromet, Evelyn J.
AU - Bruffaerts, Ronny
AU - de Girolamo, Giovanni
AU - Gluzman, Semyon
AU - Gureje, Oye
AU - Karam, Elie G.
AU - Lee, Sing
AU - Lépine, Jean Pierre
AU - Ono, Yutaka
AU - Pennell, Beth Ellen
AU - Popovici, Daniela G.
AU - Ten Have, Margreet
AU - Kessler, Ronald C.
AU - Aguilar-Gaxiola, Sergio
AU - Al-Hamzawi, Ali
AU - Al-Kaisy, Mohammed Salih
AU - Alonso, Jordi
AU - Andrade, Laura Helena
AU - Benjet, Corina
AU - Borges, Guilherme
AU - Bromet, Evelyn J.
AU - Bruffaerts, Ronny
AU - Bunting, Brendan
AU - de Almeida, Jose Miguel Caldas
AU - Cardoso, Graca
AU - Cia, Alfredo H.
AU - Chatterji, Somnath
AU - Degenhardt, Louisa
AU - de Girolamo, Giovanni
AU - de Jonge, Peter
AU - Demyttenaere, Koen
AU - Fayyad, John
AU - Florescu, Silvia
AU - Gureje, Oye
AU - Haro, Josep Maria
AU - He, Yanling
AU - Hinkov, Hristo
AU - Hu, Chi yi
AU - Huang, Yueqin
AU - Karam, Aimee Nasser
AU - Karam, Elie G.
AU - Kawakami, Norito
AU - Kessler, Ronald C.
AU - Kiejna, Andrzej
AU - Kovess-Masfety, Viviane
AU - The Who World Mental Health Survey Collaborators
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - Purpose: Understanding the effects of war on mental disorders is important for developing effective post-conflict recovery policies and programs. The current study uses cross-sectional, retrospectively reported data collected as part of the World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative to examine the associations of being a civilian in a war zone/region of terror in World War II with a range of DSM-IV mental disorders. Methods: Adults (n = 3370) who lived in countries directly involved in World War II in Europe and Japan were administered structured diagnostic interviews of lifetime DSM-IV mental disorders. The associations of war-related traumas with subsequent disorder onset-persistence were assessed with discrete-time survival analysis (lifetime prevalence) and conditional logistic regression (12-month prevalence). Results: Respondents who were civilians in a war zone/region of terror had higher lifetime risks than other respondents of major depressive disorder (MDD; OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1, 1.9) and anxiety disorder (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1, 2.0). The association of war exposure with MDD was strongest in the early years after the war, whereas the association with anxiety disorders increased over time. Among lifetime cases, war exposure was associated with lower past year risk of anxiety disorders (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2, 0.7). Conclusions: Exposure to war in World War II was associated with higher lifetime risk of some mental disorders. Whether comparable patterns will be found among civilians living through more recent wars remains to be seen, but should be recognized as a possibility by those projecting future needs for treatment of mental disorders.
AB - Purpose: Understanding the effects of war on mental disorders is important for developing effective post-conflict recovery policies and programs. The current study uses cross-sectional, retrospectively reported data collected as part of the World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative to examine the associations of being a civilian in a war zone/region of terror in World War II with a range of DSM-IV mental disorders. Methods: Adults (n = 3370) who lived in countries directly involved in World War II in Europe and Japan were administered structured diagnostic interviews of lifetime DSM-IV mental disorders. The associations of war-related traumas with subsequent disorder onset-persistence were assessed with discrete-time survival analysis (lifetime prevalence) and conditional logistic regression (12-month prevalence). Results: Respondents who were civilians in a war zone/region of terror had higher lifetime risks than other respondents of major depressive disorder (MDD; OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1, 1.9) and anxiety disorder (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1, 2.0). The association of war exposure with MDD was strongest in the early years after the war, whereas the association with anxiety disorders increased over time. Among lifetime cases, war exposure was associated with lower past year risk of anxiety disorders (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2, 0.7). Conclusions: Exposure to war in World War II was associated with higher lifetime risk of some mental disorders. Whether comparable patterns will be found among civilians living through more recent wars remains to be seen, but should be recognized as a possibility by those projecting future needs for treatment of mental disorders.
KW - Anxiety disorders
KW - Civilians in war
KW - Major depressive disorder
KW - World War II
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85033363107&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00127-017-1452-3
DO - 10.1007/s00127-017-1452-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85033363107
SN - 0933-7954
VL - 53
SP - 207
EP - 219
JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
IS - 2
ER -