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Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment

BACKGROUND: The research on the psychological consequences of World War II (WWII) trauma has predominantly focused on concentration camp and Holocaust survivors. Only a few studies have been undertaken among civilian survivors of WWII. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the associa...

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Autores principales: Rzeszutek, Marcin, Lis-Turlejska, Maja, Krajewska, Aleksandra, Zawadzka, Amelia, Lewandowski, Michał, Szumiał, Szymon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7055398/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32174863
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00210
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author Rzeszutek, Marcin
Lis-Turlejska, Maja
Krajewska, Aleksandra
Zawadzka, Amelia
Lewandowski, Michał
Szumiał, Szymon
author_facet Rzeszutek, Marcin
Lis-Turlejska, Maja
Krajewska, Aleksandra
Zawadzka, Amelia
Lewandowski, Michał
Szumiał, Szymon
author_sort Rzeszutek, Marcin
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The research on the psychological consequences of World War II (WWII) trauma has predominantly focused on concentration camp and Holocaust survivors. Only a few studies have been undertaken among civilian survivors of WWII. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between perceived social acknowledgment of WWII trauma and the level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms among Polish survivors of WWII by employing a mixed-methods design (i.e., a quantitative analysis supported by qualitative interviews). METHOD: In the quantitative part, 123 participants filled out: the list of WWII-related traumatic events, the PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PCL-5), the shortened version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the Social Acknowledgment Questionnaire (SAQ). In the qualitative part, an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of participants’ reminiscences of WWII was examined. RESULTS: Although we observed a direct positive association between the number of WWII-related traumatic events and the intensity of PTSD and depressive symptoms, these relationships changed when we entered the social acknowledgment construct into the model. Specifically, we found that perceived social acknowledgment (general disapproval) was a mediator of the relationship between the number of WWII traumatic events and the intensity of PTSD symptoms only, and not of depressive symptoms. In the qualitative part, three themes relating to traumatic reminiscences emerged among the participants: parental efficacy, parental betrayal, and support from the invader. CONCLUSION: Our study showed the significance of the general social acknowledgment in the long-term mental consequences of the WWII trauma in Poland. In addition, the results of our study may be an adjunct to the discussion on the long-term impact of WWII trauma in Poland and the factors that hindered its social recognition.
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spelling pubmed-70553982020-03-13 Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment Rzeszutek, Marcin Lis-Turlejska, Maja Krajewska, Aleksandra Zawadzka, Amelia Lewandowski, Michał Szumiał, Szymon Front Psychol Psychology BACKGROUND: The research on the psychological consequences of World War II (WWII) trauma has predominantly focused on concentration camp and Holocaust survivors. Only a few studies have been undertaken among civilian survivors of WWII. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between perceived social acknowledgment of WWII trauma and the level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms among Polish survivors of WWII by employing a mixed-methods design (i.e., a quantitative analysis supported by qualitative interviews). METHOD: In the quantitative part, 123 participants filled out: the list of WWII-related traumatic events, the PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PCL-5), the shortened version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the Social Acknowledgment Questionnaire (SAQ). In the qualitative part, an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of participants’ reminiscences of WWII was examined. RESULTS: Although we observed a direct positive association between the number of WWII-related traumatic events and the intensity of PTSD and depressive symptoms, these relationships changed when we entered the social acknowledgment construct into the model. Specifically, we found that perceived social acknowledgment (general disapproval) was a mediator of the relationship between the number of WWII traumatic events and the intensity of PTSD symptoms only, and not of depressive symptoms. In the qualitative part, three themes relating to traumatic reminiscences emerged among the participants: parental efficacy, parental betrayal, and support from the invader. CONCLUSION: Our study showed the significance of the general social acknowledgment in the long-term mental consequences of the WWII trauma in Poland. In addition, the results of our study may be an adjunct to the discussion on the long-term impact of WWII trauma in Poland and the factors that hindered its social recognition. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-02-26 /pmc/articles/PMC7055398/ /pubmed/32174863 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00210 Text en Copyright © 2020 Rzeszutek, Lis-Turlejska, Krajewska, Zawadzka, Lewandowski and Szumiał. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Rzeszutek, Marcin
Lis-Turlejska, Maja
Krajewska, Aleksandra
Zawadzka, Amelia
Lewandowski, Michał
Szumiał, Szymon
Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment
title Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment
title_full Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment
title_fullStr Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment
title_full_unstemmed Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment
title_short Long-Term Psychological Consequences of World War II Trauma Among Polish Survivors: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Social Acknowledgment
title_sort long-term psychological consequences of world war ii trauma among polish survivors: a mixed-methods study on the role of social acknowledgment
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7055398/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32174863
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00210
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