THE KHMER ADOLESCENT PROJECT .3. A STUDY OF TRAUMA FROM THAILAND SITE-II REFUGEE CAMP

Objective: To determine the prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress d isorder (PTSD) and depression in a sample of 99 Cambodian youths, aged 18 to 25 years, living in the Site II refugee camps along the Thai-Ca mbodian border; to compare these rates to data collected in a similarl y aged sample of Cambodian refugees living in the United States; and t o illustrate the findings with case vignettes and a brief description of the refugee camp at Site II, Method: The senior author describes th e main features of life in the Site II camp while being employed in on e of its medical clinics. A Khmer translated version of the depression section of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Epidemiologic Version and the PTSD section of Dia gnostic Interview Schedule for Children and Adolescents were used in i nterview format by trained bilingual research assistants. Khmer versio ns of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Impact of Events Scale wer e also administered. Results: The enduring nature of PTSD was evident in this sample of Khmer youths who had survived the Pol Pot regime as children. Similar rates of Pol Pot-related PTSD were found when compar ed to rates from the US sample. Subclinical forms of PTSD were found i n those who reported their worst trauma during life in the camp, while the full PTSD syndrome was associated with those who reported trauma occurring during the earlier Pol Pot regime. Extremely high rates of d epressive disorder were found which were interpreted as related to the repatriation back to Cambodia as this study was undertaken. Conclusio n: PTSD in this sample appears to be specifically related to earlier w ar trauma, while depressive symptoms appear more related to recent str essors. As with other findings from the Khmer adolescent project, this study reaffirms the strong connection between the diagnosis of curren t PTSD and earlier war trauma in an additional sample of youths at Sit e II, Thailand. Depressive symptoms, on the other hand, appear to be r elated to the vicissitudes of recent stressful events in this refugee population.