Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, psychological distress, personal resources, and quality of life in four groups of Holocaust child survivors

The objective of the present study was to inquire into the long-term effect s of child survivors' Holocaust experience. To this end 170 Holocaust survi vors who were born after 1926 completed questionnaires with regard to psych ological distress, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Quality of Life (Q oL), Self-identity, and Potency. The survivors were divided into four group s based on the setting of their experience during the Holocaust: Catholic I nstitutions, Christian foster families, concentration camps, and hiding bit the woods and/or with partisans. Results showed that survivors who had bee n with foster families scored significantly higher on several of the measur es of distress, whereas survivors who had been in the woods and/or with par tisans scored significantly higher on several of the positive measures, QoL , potency, and self-identity. The discussion focuses on understanding the d ifferent experiences according to developmental theory and sense of control . It was concluded that there are group differences between child survivors according to their Holocaust experience.