Multidisciplinary Treatment for Traumatized Refugees in a Naturalistic Setting: Symptom Courses and Predictors

ABSTRACTBackground: Multidisciplinary treatment approaches are commonly used in specialized psychosocial centres for the treatment of traumatized refugees, but empirical evidence for their efficacy is inconsistent.Objective: In order to obtain more evidence on the development of mental health and well-being of traumatized refugees who receive multidisciplinary treatment, symptom courses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and somatoform symptoms as well as in the subjective quality of life were investigated in the course of a multidisciplinary treatment. In addition, it was analysed if sociodemographic variables were predictors for possible changes in symptomatology and quality of life.Method: N = 76 patients of the outpatient clinic of a psychosocial centre for traumatized refugees receiving regular multidisciplinary treatment were surveyed using standardized questionnaires at three measurement points (at the beginning of treatment, and after an average of 7 and 14 months of trea...