According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the risk for PTSD is separated into three categories, including pre-traumatic, peri-traumatic, and post-traumatic factors:
Pre-traumatic factors include childhood emotional problems by age 6, lower socioeconomic status, lower education, prior exposure to trauma, childhood adversity, lower intelligence, minority racial/ethnic status, and a family psychiatric history. Female gender and younger age at exposure may also contribute to pre-traumatic risk.
Peri-traumatic factors include the severity of the trauma, perceived life threat, personal injury, interpersonal violence, and dissociation during the trauma that persists afterward.
Post-traumatic risk factors include negative appraisals, ineffective coping strategies, subsequent exposure to distressing reminders, subsequent adverse life events, and other trauma-related losses.
According to the study, the majority of men (61%) and women (51%) in the U.S. experience at least one potentially traumatic even in their lifetimes as immigrants. Children are not exempt from this; about 68% reported experiencing a potentially traumatic even by the age of 16.
The migration process shapes the health and adjustment of these individuals. It begins at home, many of them are fleeing from difficult experiences or poverty, only to arrive to a foreign land, where they face even scarier environments. The difficulties of not knowing the language, living in poverty, not having a permanent home or job, and the fear of being deported adds on this stress.
For information about the treatment of PTSD, visit SAMHSA’s Treatments for Mental Disorders page.
