PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON INTERNALLY DISPLACED WOMEN

Abstract

The biggest dilemma of modern age is Terrorism. While on one side, terrorism has extinguished countless lives, left physical scars and psychologically hampered masses; on the other side it has also displaced millions of people. Vast literature on the effects of terrorism on mental health of people is available across cultures, but there are very few studies that have highlighted psychological impact of terrorism on internally displaced women. The present study is an endeavor to focus on the mental health of one of this neglected segment of society, in Pakistan. Studies on mental health of people affected by Terrorism worldwide, revealed high levels of post traumatic stress disorder as one of the major negative outcome of the trauma. However there are some recent studies that have highlighted some positive changes too that an individual may experience as a result of struggling with the trauma, called post traumatic growth (PTG). The present study investigated both the post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as the development of post traumatic growth( PTG) among internally displaced women (N=130) from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) who were living in the IDP camps. Furthermore, the researcher also examined the differences in PTSD scores of the respondents vis-à-vis their marital status, differences and severity of trauma resulting from loss of a family member or close relative/s. This study also explored the unique relationship of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with post traumatic growth (PTG) and locus of control (LOC) among the sample. In addition to this, general mental health of the sample was also assessed along with its relationship with PTSD. Age range of the sample was16- 60 years (Mean age = 39.94, S.D = 13.95). Results indicated that majority of the sample had at least some symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and slightly less than half of the sample (40.8%) met the diagnostic criteria of PTSD. Findings revealed a significant difference between married and unmarried women on PTSD scale, with married women obtaining significantly higher scores on PTSD scale as compared to unmarried respondents. Besides, bivariate correlation revealed that age was also strongly correlated with PTSD. Therefore, further analysis (ANCOVA) was conducted, controlling for women’s age. Our findings revealed that marital status was no longer significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. Further, though loss of family member/s did not reveal a significant difference in the scores of PTSD among the sample, yet it was observed that women who lost family member in terrorism scored relatively higher on PTSD scale. PTSD was negatively associated with PTGI in the preliminary analysis (r =-.14) but post hoc analysis when conducted, by regressing post traumatic growth (PTG) onto post traumatic stress symptoms ( PTSD), revealed a significant quadratic effect. Hence the study demonstrated a significant curvilinear relationship between PTSD and PTG. Respondents with fewer PTSD symptoms reported lower levels of growth, whereas respondents having moderate levels of PTSD symptoms exhibited higher levels of growth. Surprisingly when PTSD symptoms became severe, the growth levels dropped down. In this study the relationship of PTSD and locus of control (LOC) could not be verified as all the respondents rated themselves extremely high on God locus of health control scale (GLHC). In fact there was no variability in the scores on GLHC scale among the sample. Findings also revealed a strong positive correlation between General mental Health symptoms (GHQ) and PTSD. The present research on one side, provides a detailed analysis of PTSD and the factors that contribute toward PTSD among internally displaced women from remote areas of Pakistan, whereas on the other side it has also revealed positive outcomes following trauma: Post traumatic growth and its relationship with post traumatic stress disorder in a unique combination of terrorism and internal displacement.