Are posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex-PTSD distinguishable within a treatment-seeking sample of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon?.

Author: Hyland, P., Ceannt, R., Daccache, F., Daher, R. A., Sleiman, J., Gilmore, B., Byrne, S., Shevlin, M., Murphy, J., Vallieres, F.

Source:
Global Mental Health, 5.
Background: The World Health Organization will publish its 11(th) revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018. The ICD-11 will include a refined model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a new diagnosis of complex PTSD (CPTSD). Whereas emerging data supports the validity of these proposals, the discriminant validity of PTSD and CPTSD have yet to be tested amongst a sample of refugees. Methods: Treatment-seeking Syrian refugees (N = 110) living in Lebanon completed an Arabic version of the International Trauma Questionnaire; a measure specifically designed to capture the symptom content of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. Results: In total, 62.6% of the sample met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD or CPTSD. More refugees met the criteria for CPTSD (36.1%) than PTSD (25.2%) and no gender differences were observed. Latent class analysis results identified three distinct groups: (1) a PTSD class, (2) a CPTSD class and (3) a low symptom class. Class membership was significantly predicted by levels of functional impairment. Conclusion: Support for the discriminant validity of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD was observed for the first time within a sample of refugees. In support of the cross-cultural validity of the ICD-11 proposals, the prevalence of PTSD and CPTSD were similar to those observed in culturally distinct contexts.