IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v119y2014i1p265-280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influence of Posttraumatic Growth on Mental Health and Well-being Across Respondents Severely Affected by War in Post-conflict Sri Lanka

Author

Listed:
  • Dinuk Jayasuriya

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that trauma and stressors are negatively correlated with mental health outcomes in post-conflict environments. This paper investigates if posttraumatic growth (positive psychological change due to traumatic experiences) can beneficially influence mental health and well-being in a post-conflict setting. In July 2012, a pilot survey of 150 people and a cross-sectional multistage cluster survey of 3,029 participants were undertaken in the four Sri Lankan districts most severely affected by war. The response rate was 81 % with a total of 2,460 interviewees including people who have experience living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps (n = 1,505) and people who have never lived in IDP camps (n = 955). Results show the impact of posttraumatic growth on mental health and well-being is higher among those people with experience living in IDP camps compared to people who have never lived in IDP camps. Results also show short-term displacement in IDP camps (1 year or less) is positively associated with greater well-being and mental health relative to people in post-conflict areas who have never been in IDP camps. Conversely, longer-term displacement in IDP camps (more than 1 year) is negatively associated with greater well-being and mental health relative to people in post-conflict areas who have never been in IDP camps. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Dinuk Jayasuriya, 2014. "Influence of Posttraumatic Growth on Mental Health and Well-being Across Respondents Severely Affected by War in Post-conflict Sri Lanka," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 265-280, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:119:y:2014:i:1:p:265-280
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0484-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-013-0484-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-013-0484-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jishnu Das & Quy-Toan Do & Jed Friedman & David McKenzie, 2008. "Mental Health Patterns and Consequences: Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 23(1), pages 31-55, August.
    2. Miller, Kenneth E. & Rasmussen, Andrew, 2010. "War exposure, daily stressors, and mental health in conflict and post-conflict settings: Bridging the divide between trauma-focused and psychosocial frameworks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 7-16, January.
    3. Jeannie Annan & Christopher Blattman & Dyan Mazurana & Khristopher Carlson, 2011. "Civil War, Reintegration, and Gender in Northern Uganda," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 55(6), pages 877-908, December.
    4. Olga Shemyakina & Anke Plagnol, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being and Armed Conflict: Evidence from Bosnia-Herzegovina," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 1129-1152, September.
    5. Hendrik Jürges & Arthur Soest, 2012. "Comparing the Well-Being of Older Europeans: Introduction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 187-190, January.
    6. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Mental health recovery and economic recovery after the tsunami: High-frequency longitudinal evidence from Sri Lankan small business owners," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 582-595, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Massimiliano Bratti & Mariapia Mendola & Alfonso Miranda, 2015. "Hard to Forget: the Long-Lasting Impact of War on Mental Health," Development Working Papers 388, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    2. Mayra Buvinic & Monica Das Gupta & Ursula Casabonne & Philip Verwimp, 2013. "Violent Conflict and Gender Inequality: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 110-138, February.
    3. Osiichuk, Maryna & Shepotylo, Oleksandr, 2020. "Conflict and well-being of civilians: The case of the Russian-Ukrainian hybrid war," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    4. Prakarsh Singh & Olga N. Shemyakina, 2013. "Gender-Differential Effects of Conflict on Education: The Case of the 1981-1993 Punjab Insurgency," HiCN Working Papers 143, Households in Conflict Network.
    5. Rojas, Mariano, 2011. "Poverty and psychological distress in Latin America," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 206-217, March.
    6. Seguin, Maureen & Lewis, Ruth & Amirejibi, Tinatin & Razmadze, Mariam & Makhashvili, Nino & Roberts, Bayard, 2016. "Our flesh is here but our soul stayed there: A qualitative study on resource loss due to war and displacement among internally-displaced women in the Republic of Georgia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 239-247.
    7. Andrea Colombo & Olivia D'Aoust & Olivier Sterck, 2019. "From Rebellion to Electoral Violence: Evidence from Burundi," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(2), pages 333-368.
    8. Sarah Baird & Jacobus de Hoop & Berk Özler, 2013. "Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 370-403.
    9. Hinton, Devon E. & Nickerson, Angela & Bryant, Richard A., 2011. "Worry, worry attacks, and PTSD among Cambodian refugees: A path analysis investigation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1817-1825, June.
    10. La Mattina, Giulia, 2017. "Civil conflict, domestic violence and intra-household bargaining in post-genocide Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 168-198.
    11. Kimi King & James Meernik, 2019. "The Burden of Bearing Witness: The Impact of Testifying at War Crimes Tribunals," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 348-372, February.
    12. Coupe, Tom & Obrizan, Maksym, 2016. "The impact of war on happiness: The case of Ukraine," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 132(PA), pages 228-242.
    13. Jishnu Das & Quy-Toan Do & Jed Friedman & David McKenzie, 2008. "Mental Health Patterns and Consequences: Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 23(1), pages 31-55, August.
    14. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2014. "Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 53-76, May.
    15. Jayawickreme, Nuwan & Mootoo, Candace & Fountain, Christine & Rasmussen, Andrew & Jayawickreme, Eranda & Bertuccio, Rebecca F., 2017. "Post-conflict struggles as networks of problems: A network analysis of trauma, daily stressors and psychological distress among Sri Lankan war survivors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 119-132.
    16. Panter-Brick, Catherine & Eggerman, Mark, 2018. "The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 233-239.
    17. Bharati, Tushar, 2022. "The long shadow of the Kargil War: The effect of early-life stress on education," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    18. Kathleen Ford & Aree Jampaklay & Aphichat Chamatrithirong, 2022. "Psychiatric symptoms among migrants to Malaysia from the southernmost provinces of Thailand," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(3), pages 533-540, May.
    19. Eggerman, Mark & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2010. "Suffering, hope, and entrapment: Resilience and cultural values in Afghanistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-83, July.
    20. Jose Roberto Balmori de la Miyar, 2020. "Breaking sad: drug-related homicides and mental well-being in Mexico," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(4), pages 513-531, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:119:y:2014:i:1:p:265-280. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.