2020/12/10 by Hyojin Im, Laura E. T. Swan, Laura ET Swan +3 · 35 citations
Medicine · Psychology · #Anxiety #Clinical psychology #Comorbidity #Depression (economics) #Medicine #Mental Health Treatment and Access #Mental health #Migration, Health and Trauma #National Comorbidity Survey #Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research #Psychiatry #Psychology #Psychosocial #Refugee #Somali
paper · doi:10.1177/0020764020978685
published in International Journal of Social Psychiatry 68(1), 134-146 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2020/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
BACKGROUND: Comorbid common mental disorders (CMDs) are pervasive in refugee populations. However, limited research has explored psychosocial factors for mental disorder comorbidity in Somali refugee samples. AIMS: This study aims to explore potential risk and protective factors for comorbid depression-anxiety and comorbid depression-PTSD by examining associations between trauma exposure, psychosocial factors, and mental health symptoms among a sample of Somali refugees displaced in urban Kenya. METHODS: = 19 unknown gender). We measured 16 common types of trauma exposure and three psychosocial factors (endorsing violence, willingness to share problems, and symptom awareness) and used the HSCL-25 and PCL-C to capture individual and comorbid CMD symptoms, using guided cutoff points and/or algorithms. We then ran a series of logistic regression analyses to examine relationships between trauma exposure, psychosocial factors, and individual and comorbid CMD symptoms. RESULTS: Findings showed that increased trauma exposure predicted symptoms of individual and comorbid CMDs. Increased symptom awareness and endorsement of violence predicted comorbid depression-PTSD and comorbid anxiety-depression symptoms, respectively. Willingness to share problems buffered depressive symptoms but did not predict comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings revealed the high CMD comorbidity prevalence with differential effects of trauma and psychosocial factors on individual or comorbid mental disorders. This study suggests a need for transdiagnostic approaches that cut across Western diagnostic boundaries and consider culturally responsive and relevant items for mental health measures.