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Follow‐up study of British military hostages and their families held in Kuwait during the Gulf War
Author(s) -
Bisson Jonathan I.,
Searle Margaret M.,
Srinivasan Michael
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of medical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.102
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 2044-8341
pISSN - 0007-1129
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1998.tb00989.x
Subject(s) - mental health , general health questionnaire , psychology , gulf war , distress , psychiatry , occupational safety and health , scale (ratio) , suicide prevention , psychological distress , poison control , clinical psychology , demography , medicine , medical emergency , history , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics , sociology , economic history
On 2 August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and held hostage all its inhabitants. Amongst those forced to stay were 71 British servicemen and their families who were held hostage for up to four and a half months. This study investigated the mental health status of this group of individuals at 6 and 18 months after the final hostage was released. Participants completed the Impact of Event Scale and the 28‐item version of the General Health Questionnaire at both 6 and 18 months. In addition they completed a questionnaire regarding background factors, the dimensions of the trauma and the effects of their hostage experience. The Impact of Event Scale scores changed little over time whereas the General Health Questionnaire scores reduced significantly ( p = .001) over the 12‐month period suggesting that despite ongoing intrusive and avoidance phenomena levels of psychological distress did reduce. Those variables most strongly associated with a poor psychological outcome were witnessing physical violence and perceived deterioration in physical and mental health. Poor outcome at 6 months was strongly correlated with poor outcome at 18 months.