[Armed conflict and trauma: a clinical study of Latin-American refugee children].
This exploratory research on psychic consequences of armed conflicts has been carried out in Montreal on 30 latin-americans, eight to 12 year-old refugees. The principal objective was to assert the importance of traumas intensity, accumulation and age of occurrence on the level and type of symptomatology (introversion-extroversion). Using two types of methodologies, clinical scales and in a more exploratory way, projective instruments to study the intra-psychic dynamic underlying the symptomatology observed. The children were classified according to trauma intensity and for this purpose, a trauma scale was defined with latin-american informants. ACHENBACH and DOMINIQUE clinical evaluation scales were applied to the measure of clinical symptomatology. These instruments were analysed as a function of the symptoms intensity and type. Among results, the accumulation and intensity of traumas were found to be in significant correlation with anxio-depressive symptoms, as reported by the children with interiorization symptoms in ACHENBACH. The predominance of interiorization is discussed. The analysis of the TAT, based on objective indicators, brought out a light frequency of violent themes in relations with the clinical symptomatology. This research indicates the relevance of projective instruments to the study of traumatic response.
Rousseau
C
C
Unité de recherche psychosociale, Centre de recherche de l'hôpital Douglas, Verdun, Québec.
Corin
E
E
Renaud
C
C
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile / Q000208:ethnology; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D004544:El Salvador / Q000208:ethnology; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala / Q000208:ethnology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007439:Introversion, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D011792:Quebec; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence
Conflit armé et trauma: une étude clinique chez des enfants réfugiés latino-américains.