Jessica E. Lambert

War and disaster in Sri Lanka: Depression, family adjustment and health among women heading households

Background: The civil war, lasting from 1983 to 2009, and the tsunami that struck Southeastern Asia in 2004 were major stressors that changed the demographic landscape of the northern province of Sri Lanka. The composition of families changed dramatically, with an increase in female-headed households, largely due to casualties. The conservation of resources (COR) model was applied in this study to examine relationships between risk and resiliency factors among women heading households, including women widowed by war or disaster. Aims: This study represents an investigation of the association between predictive risk and resiliency factors (i.e. war damage and loss, social support, economic status, religious participation and discrimination) and outcomes representing well-being (depressive symptoms, family adjustment and a rating of physical health). Methods: Data from 514 women heading households living in the Kilinochchi district of Sri Lanka were collected through face-to-face interviews in 2013, and associations among the data were estimated using path analysis. Results: Results suggest that resiliency factors that are representative of greater resources generally predicted lower levels of distress and vice versa. Conclusion: Further study informing intervention development with women heading households in Sri Lanka is warranted to better understand which individual, family and community resources are most important to mobilize for sustainable recovery efforts to be successful in the decades following war and natural disaster.

Toward understanding posttraumatic stress and depression among trauma-affected widows in Sri Lanka.

OBJECTIVE In this study, we applied conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989) to explain high rates of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among war- and disaster-affected Tamil widows in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. We hypothesized exposure to potentially traumatic events and severity of current contextual problems would influence PTSS and depressive symptoms directly and indirectly through loss of psychological (view of self), environmental (sense of community), and energy (physical health) resources. METHOD Trained research assistants interviewed a convenience sample (N = 381) of women, using established measures of the constructs of interest. Data were analyzed using path analysis in MPlus. The significance of the indirect effects was tested using bootstrapping. RESULTS The model had an acceptable fit (χ2 = 4.06, df = 1, p < .05; Log Likelihood = -3344.26*; AIC = 6760.59; BIC = 6894.64; RMSEA = 0.09; CFI = .99; TLI = .91; SRMR = .02) and explained approximately 38% of the variance in both PTSS and depression. Contextual problems were significantly associated with PTSS and depression both directly and indirectly through deleterious effects on view of self, health status, and sense of community. Degree of trauma exposure was directly associated with indicators of distress. CONCLUSION Results support the utility of COR theory in this context and hold implications for research and program development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

PTSD symptoms among tsunami exposed mothers in Sri Lanka: the role of disaster exposure, culturally specific coping strategies, and recovery efforts

ABSTRACT Background and objectives: Women in Sri Lanka have been uniquely exposed to a complex and protracted set of stressors stemming from a civil war conflict spanning over 25 years and the tsunami which struck Southeast Asia in 2004. This study investigates coping strategies and their association with trauma-related symptoms of tsunami-exposed mothers in Sri Lanka at two time points. Design: Data for this study come from surveys administered in two waves of data collection to investigate both mothers’ and adolescent children’s post-tsunami mental health in early 2005, three months after the tsunami struck, and again in 2008, three years later. Methods: Latent-variable structural equation modeling was used to test the study hypotheses among 160 tsunami-affected mothers in the Polhena village, Matara district, Sri Lanka. Results: Among the various coping strategies examined, the use of cultural rituals as well as inner psychological strength was associated with lower levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms. In contrast, passive religious beliefs were associated with greater posttraumatic stress levels. Conclusions: The results of this study reveal the differential associations of various coping strategies including rituals used by mothers exposed to the tsunami in Sri Lanka and their posttraumatic stress symptom levels.

Subjective Reactions to International Research Participation: An Illustration of Ethical Considerations With Women Heading Households in Sri Lanka.

here are unique ethical considerations in conducting international research with war and disaster-affected populations that are important for ensuring adequate protection of participants. Of particular importance is the distress that participants may experience as a result of being asked about traumatic stressors, psychological symptoms, and life problems. In this study, trauma-affected Tamil women in Eastern Sri Lanka were asked to report on their research-participation experience after taking part in a larger study on risk and resiliency. Results indicated that most participants experienced emotional upset as a result of taking part in the study. However, the degree of distress was generally not more than they anticipated, and most participants reported they would have participated had they known in advance how they would feel. Most participants perceived some benefit as a result of participating and agreed that items were personally relevant. Emotional distress from participation positively correlated with culturally specific symptoms of anxiety and depression. Contextual stressors and social support were not associated with participation-related distress. We discuss these findings as well as general issues that might arise in international research with trauma-affected populations. (PsycINFO Database Record

War and disaster in Sri Lanka: Implications for widows' family adjustment and perception of self-efficacy in caring for one's family: IMPLICATIONS FOR WIDOWS' FAMILY ADJUSTMENT AND PERCEPTION OF SELF-EFFICACY

The data for this study were collected in 2014 from widows in Eastern Sri Lanka whose spouses died in the civil war, tsunami, or from health-related problems. Conservation of resources (COR) theory was used as a lens to examine the extent to which war and tsunami-related damages and family problems predict variation in social support, family adjustment and a perception of self-efficacy in caring for ones family as reported by widowed women. We also investigated whether social support from the community and social support from family and friends mediated those relationships. Results of a path model fit to the data suggested variation in family adjustment to be negatively predicted by war-related family problems and positively predicted by the social support of friends and family. Additionally, a sense of self-efficacy in caring for ones family was found to be inversely predicted by war-related family problems and tsunami damages. Clinical, social and theoretical implications are discussed as well as directions for further research.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Attitudes and Current Research Concerning Intimate Partner Violence: Issues for Child Custody

The classification of domestic abuse in to distinct types has, unfortunately, become a divisive issue in the field of family violence and the practice of child custody evaluations. Typologies for the abusive partner (HoltzworthMunroe & Meehan, 2004; Holtzworth-Munroe & Stuart, 1994; Jacobson & Gottman, 1998) and for the dynamic between partners have been proposed (Johnson, 1995; Johnson & Leone, 2005). Perhaps the most well-known and controversial model of couple violence was proposed by Johnson (1995, 2008) and distinguishes between situations where one partner is truly abusive and situations where partners have poor conflict resolution skills and both resort to physical violence on occasion. Johnson’s model of couple violence was proposed to represent a rapprochement of different sides on the domestic violence debate-the feminist tradition and the systemic conceptualizations of family violence (Johnson & Leone, 2005). As described in Meier (this issue) and Gulliver and Fanslow (this issue), Johnson (1995) argued that violent couples can be distinguished largely by the degree to which one partner utilizes coercive control tactics in the relationship. Under this assumption, there are some couples where one partner, typically the male in heterosexual relationships, is the perpetrator of violence characterized by efforts to control and dominate his partner. Such relationships were labeled intimate terrorism (Johnson & Leone, 2005) and were said to be consistent with dynamics reported by most domestic violence victims in shelters. In contrast, physical aggression in the absence of coercive control was labeled common couple violence and later situational violence (Johnson & Leone). Situational violence