Previous research on political violence has shown an inverse relationship
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types of war-related events upon psychological well-being, as well as the role
of social and political context in moderating these outcomes. The psychological
well-being of 337 Bosnian adolescents living in two towns on opposite sides of
the war was assessed using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and the
Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). Based on the combined symptom scores, and
in-depth interviews regarding life history, war experiences, and subjective
experience of psychological well-being a gender-matched sub-sample of 40
adolescents was selected and completed a 45-item trauma event scale. Results
from the quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that the relationship
between exposure, displacement and well-being varied significantly depending on
the community in which the adolescents lived. Specific meanings given to
different types of war events were important in moderating their effect. Living
in a neglected, isolated and depressed community, worry about school
performance, missing friends and family breakdown could have as significant an
effect on well-being as exposure to war-related events. The findings demonstrate
the need to take social context and meaning of events into account when
examining the impact of war exposure on psychological well-being.
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