Trauma, mental health and everyday functioning among Rohingya refugees

5 July 2022

Research has examined the effects of short- and long-term displacements on mental health among different refugee communities worldwide. However, no study has examined this effect on the same community that took refuge in other countries at different points in time and lived in different resettlement conditions. Although most studies on displaced populations focused on direct trauma exposure, little attention has been given to seeing the effects of indirect trauma on refugee mental health.

"This project investigated if Rohingya refugee people resettled in camps in rural Bangladesh and urban locations in Malaysia had different levels of traumatic experiences, mental health and everyday functioning. The study also examined if direct and indirect exposure to traumatic events could predict PTSD, depression, generalised anxiety, and daily functioning in the two groups separately. We conveniently recruited 100 adult Rohingyas, 50 from each country; most were males. Rohingyas in Bangladesh fled Myanmar's Rakhine State following a major military crackdown in 2017. In contrast, Rohingyas in Malaysia fled Rakhine gradually over the last three decades because of recurrent violence and army operations," shared Associate Professor Shamsul Haque from the Department of Psychology, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia.

Dr Haque conducted the study with Monash University Malaysia's Merit Scholarship for PhD recipient, Sanjida Khan. Results from their research indicated that the Rohingyas in Bangladesh experienced more traumatic events than the Rohingyas in Malaysia. Although the two cohorts did not differ in indirect exposure to traumatic incidents, the Malaysian cohort had more direct exposure to traumatic events than the Bangladeshi cohort. The Bangladeshi cohort showed higher PTSD, depression, generalised anxiety, and functional impairment than those in Malaysia.

According to Dr Haque, both direct and indirect trauma significantly predicted PTSD, depression, and functional impairment among Rohingyas in Bangladesh, with direct trauma being the stronger predictor. However, only indirect trauma predicted PTSD among Rohingyas in Malaysia. The results also showed that the predictive relationship between direct trauma and PTSD differed across the two countries.

"We focused on indirect trauma (besides direct trauma) on mental health and everyday functioning among the refugee populations, which previous research has ignored. Direct exposure means experiencing traumatic events in person or witnessing traumatic events happening with others. People can also have indirect trauma exposure and learn from others about traumatic incidents," Dr Haque stated.

The results of this study offer insight for the researchers and service providers about how variations in exposure to traumatic episodes could affect refugee mental health and everyday functioning. The research team from Monash University Malaysia encouraged future researchers to investigate how direct and indirect trauma could influence refugee mental health at different stages of migration within the same country. The team has completed the project and plans to conduct a larger project on resilience, future episodic thinking and mental health among refugees.