Cognitive abilities related to post-traumatic symptoms among refugees from the former Yugoslavia in psychiatric treatment

Abstract

The overall aim was to study the relationship between post-traumatic symptoms and cognitive abilities among traumatized refugees from the former Yugoslavia, in psychiatric treatment. The results showed that a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as a higher level of post-traumatic symptoms, was significantly associated with poorer average cognitive performance. Three of four tests of fluid intelligence, and the Benton Visual Retention Test, assessing episodic memory, were the most discriminating. A specific constellation of PTSD symptoms, dominated by arousal and intrusive symptoms, had a significant overall correlation with intellectual performance. One implication of the study is that assessment of cognitive abilities might be advisable in this patient group, in particular when arousal and re-experiencing symptoms are frequent.

• Cognitive ability
• Former Yugoslavia
• Harvard Trauma Questionnaire
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Refugees