title: Exploring Psychological Distress in Burundi During and After the Armed Conflict.
abstract: We assessed symptoms of psychological distress among a population-based sample of 9000-plus adults in Burundi during (1998) and after (2007) armed conflict. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to an 8-item, self-report measure, we identified two domains of psychological distress "Depression/Anxiety" and "Functioning" with good fit to data. The questionnaire was invariant in males and females. Depression and Anxiety symptoms during conflict were more frequently reported than Functioning symptoms; all symptoms were more frequently reported by women. Psychological distress was found in 44 % of individuals during conflict and in 29 % 2 years after the conflict. Results call for further research in Burundi that can inform the development of mental health interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Michigan State University, 965 Fee Road, East Fee Hall, A227, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. familiar@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Familiar
authors.affiliation: Global and Community Mental Health Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: World Bank, Rwanda Office, Kigali, Rwanda.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bundervoet
authors.affiliation: ECARES and Center Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economic and Management, Universite Libre de Bruxeles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verwimp
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Department, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bass
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000068337:Armed Conflicts; D002063:Burundi / Q000453:epidemiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Anxiety; Armed conflict; Burundi; Depression; Factor analysis; Functioning