TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Loss of loved ones or home due to a disaster: effects over time on distress in immigrant ethnic minorities
JO  - Transcultural psychiatry
A1  - Smid, Geert E.
A1  - Drogendijk, Annelieke N.
A1  - Knipscheer, Jeroen
A1  - Boelen, Paul A.
A1  - Kleber, Rolf J.
SP  - 648
EP  - 668
VL  - 55
IS  - 5
N2  - Exposure to mass trauma may bring about increased sensitivity to new or ongoing stressors. It is unclear whether sensitivity to stress associated with ethnic minority/immigrant status may be affected by severe exposure to mass trauma. We examined whether the loss of loved ones or home due to a disaster is associated with more persistent disaster-related distress in ethnic minorities compared with Dutch natives in the Netherlands. In residents affected by a fireworks disaster ( N = 1029), we assessed disaster-related distress after 3 weeks, 18 months, and 4 years. The effects of loss of loved ones or home and ethnic minority/immigrant status on distress were analyzed using latent growth modeling. After controlling for age, gender, education, employment, and post-disaster stressful life events, the loss of loved ones was associated with more persistent disaster-related distress in ethnic minorities compared with natives at 18 months, and the loss of home was associated with more persistent disaster-related distress in ethnic minorities compared with natives between 18 months and 4 years. Our results suggest that the loss of loved ones may increase sensitivity to stress associated with ethnic minority/immigrant status during the early phase of adaptation to a disaster. Loss of home may lead to further resource loss and thereby increase sensitivity to stress associated with ethnic minority/immigrant status in the long term. Efforts to prevent stress-related psychopathology following mass trauma should specifically target ethnic minority groups, notably refugees and asylum seekers, who often experienced multiple losses of loved ones as well as their homes.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1363-4615
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1363461518784355
ID  - ref1
ER  -