Pathways from war trauma to posttraumatic stress symptoms among Tamil asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants

Abstract

Path analysis was used to examine the antecedents of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in Tamil asylum‐seekers, refugees, and immigrants in Australia. The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and a postmigration living difficulties questionnaire were completed by 62 asylum‐seekers, 30 refugees, and 104 immigrants who responded to a mail‐out. Demographic characteristics, residency status, and measures of trauma and postmigration stress were fitted to a structural model in PTS symptoms. Premigration trauma exposure accounted for 20% of the variance of PTS symptoms. Postmigration stress contributed 14% of the variance. Although limited by sampling constraints and retrospective measurement, the study supports the notion that both traumatic and posttraumatic events contribute to the expression of PTS symptoms.