TY - JOUR
T1 - Local perceptions of the mental health effects of the Rwandan genocide
AU - Bolton, Paul
PY - 2001/5/7
Y1 - 2001/5/7
N2 - The objectives of this study were to investigate how Rwandans perceive the mental health effects of the 1994 genocide, to investigate the local validity of western mental illness concepts, and (if these concepts were found to be valid) to provide data to adapt existing mental health assessment instruments for local use. We used three ethnographic methods to interview people in two rural areas in Rwanda: first, free listing provided a list of local terms for mental symptoms and disorders; second, key informant interviews then provided more detailed information about these disorders; and finally, pile sorts confirmed the relationships among symptoms and disorders that emerged from the other methods. We found that interviewees described the diagnostic symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder as results of the genocide and also described associated "local" symptoms not included in the established diagnostic criteria. They divided symptoms into a "mental trauma" syndrome that included the posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and some depression and local symptoms, and a grief syndrome that included other depression and local symptoms. In the pile sorts, we focused on investigating mood disorders and confirmed that four of the locally described symptoms formed part of a local depression-like illness. The results suggest that depression occurs among this population and support the local content validity of depression assessment instruments, such as the Depression section of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Similar independent evidence of validity is missing from most cross-cultural surveys. Our work supports the need and feasibility for collecting this supporting evidence prior to conducting cross-cultural surveys using existing instruments.
AB - The objectives of this study were to investigate how Rwandans perceive the mental health effects of the 1994 genocide, to investigate the local validity of western mental illness concepts, and (if these concepts were found to be valid) to provide data to adapt existing mental health assessment instruments for local use. We used three ethnographic methods to interview people in two rural areas in Rwanda: first, free listing provided a list of local terms for mental symptoms and disorders; second, key informant interviews then provided more detailed information about these disorders; and finally, pile sorts confirmed the relationships among symptoms and disorders that emerged from the other methods. We found that interviewees described the diagnostic symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder as results of the genocide and also described associated "local" symptoms not included in the established diagnostic criteria. They divided symptoms into a "mental trauma" syndrome that included the posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and some depression and local symptoms, and a grief syndrome that included other depression and local symptoms. In the pile sorts, we focused on investigating mood disorders and confirmed that four of the locally described symptoms formed part of a local depression-like illness. The results suggest that depression occurs among this population and support the local content validity of depression assessment instruments, such as the Depression section of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Similar independent evidence of validity is missing from most cross-cultural surveys. Our work supports the need and feasibility for collecting this supporting evidence prior to conducting cross-cultural surveys using existing instruments.
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U2 - 10.1097/00005053-200104000-00006
DO - 10.1097/00005053-200104000-00006
M3 - Article
C2 - 11339320
AN - SCOPUS:0035042554
SN - 0022-3018
VL - 189
SP - 243
EP - 248
JO - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
JF - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
IS - 4
ER -