Global mental health and trauma exposure: the current evidence for the relationship between traumatic experiences and spirit possession

Figures & data

Fig. 1 Study selection flowchart.

Table 1 Overview of the included articles.

Author	Sample	N	n inc.	Prev.	Male	Female	Age	Entity	Instrument	Explanation
Bakhshani et al., 2013	Community Rural Iran	4,129	21	0.5% 1.03% (f)	0	21	15–60 Mean=35.76	(D)jinn fairy	DES Semi-structured interview	T ^a; PSS^b
2002	Clinical Jordan	179	179	—	111	68	9–52 Mean=23.15	Jinn	Semi-structured interview	PSS
1994	Case study Rural Sri Lanka India	2	2	—	0	2	15 29	Deceased Demon	—	T
2000	Clinical Oman	19	19	—	—	—	—	—	—	PSS
Chaturvedi et al., 2010	Clinical India	893	84	9.4%	19	65	—	—	—	PSS
1998	Rural China	20	20	—	3	17	24–55 Mean=37	Deceased Deity Demon Animal	Structured interview	PSS
2009	Case study Urban Oman	1	1	—	1	0	22	jinn	—	Biophysiological Head injury
1994	Case study Urban India	1	1	—	1	0	22	Ghost	Interview
	—
Igreja et al., 2010	Community Rural Mozambique	941	175	18.6%	—	—	13–60	Ancestral spirits gamba	Semi-structured quest. HTQ	T
Khan & Sahni, 2013	Case study Rural Nepal	1	1	—	0	1	20	Deceased	—	High altitude
Khoury, Kaiser, Keys, Brewster, & Kohrt, 2012	Case study Rural Haiti	4	1	0	0	1	20	Evil spirit	Interview	—
2006	Rural Iran	10	10	—	1	9	16–32	jinn	—	T; PSS
Neuner et al., 2012	Community Uganda	1,113	91	8.2%	22	69	12–25	cen	PDS VWAES DHSCL	T
2000	Clinical Singapore	55	55	—	43	12	17–69 Mean=28.1	Deities Animal Deceased Evil spirits	Semi-structured interview	PSS
2004	Clinical Singapore	58	58	—	41	17	16–69 Mean=25	Deities Animal Deceased Evil spirits	Semi-structured interview	PSS
1995	Case study Rural India Second-generation immigrant	3	2	—	0	2	26 —	Goddess Evil spirit	—	T; PSS
Sar et al., 2014	Community Urban Turkey	628	13	2.1% (f)	0	13	Mean=30.7	Jinn Demon Deceased	DDIS SCID CANQ	T
1996	Case report Rural Papua New Guinea	4	4	—	2	2	—	Evil spirits	—	PSS
2008	Clinical Community Rural Sri Lanka	90	60	—	20	40	10–74	Human Ghost Deity	Semi-structured questionnaire	PSS; T
2005	Case study Clinical South Africa	1	1	—	0	1	17	—	—	PSS
Van Duijl et al., 2010	Community Rural Uganda	119	119	—	53	66	Mean=38.4	Ancestral spirits, messenger spirits (Emandwa) and halfgods (Bacwezi)	DES SDQ20 HTQ TEC SPQ-Ug CDS-Ug	T; PSS
Total			917		317	406	9–74

DES, Dissociative Experience Scale; DDIS, Dissociative Disorder Interview Schedule; HTQ, Harvard Traumatic Questionnaire; PDS, Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale; VWAES, Violence War and Abduction Exposure Scale; DHSCL, Depression Section of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist; DTDIS, Dissociative Trance Disorder Interview Schedule; SCID, Structural Clinic Interview for DSM-IV; CANQ, Childhood Abuse and Neglect Questionnaire; SDQ20, Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire; SPQ-Ug, Spirit Possession Questionnaire Uganda; TEC, Traumatic Experiences Checklist; CDS-Ug, Checklist Dissociative Symptoms for Uganda; n incl.=subsample included in this systematic review.

Explanations given by the authors: ^aT, Trauma-Related Explanation; ^bPSS, Psychosocial Stressors; Cultural Conflicts; Communication Theory.

Table 2 Articles excluded from the systematic research

Author (year)	Reason for exclusion
Carroll, 2004	Attribution of spirit possession
Dein et al., 2008	Attribution of spirit possession
Martinez, 1999	Attribution of spirit possession
Pfeifer, 1999	Attribution of spirit possession
Van Ommeren et al.,2001	Attribution of spirit possession
Mattoo et al., 2002	Mass possession
Nakalawa et al., 2010	Mass possession
Pineros et al., 1998	Mass possession
Sethi et al., 2009	Mass possession
Wedel, 2012	Mass possession
De Jong et al., 2010	Ritual or cult
De Jong et al., 2013	Ritual or cult
Halloy, 2012	Ritual or cult
Masquelier, 2011	Ritual or cult
Moreira et al., 2008	Ritual or cult
Perman, 2011	Ritual or cult
Plancke, 2011	Ritual or cult
Seligman, 2005	Ritual or cult
Seligman, 2010	Ritual or cult
Sidky, 2011	Ritual or cult
Gadit et al., 2006	Not fitting criteria
Dein et al., 2013	Not fitting criteria
Gangdev et al., 1996	Not fitting criteria
Gingrich, 2006	Not fitting criteria
Igreja et al., 2006	Not fitting criteria
Khalifa et al., 2005	Not fitting criteria
Lester, 2008	Not fitting criteria
Rosik, 2004	Not fitting criteria
Ross, 2011	Not fitting criteria
Witzum et al., 1996	Not fitting criteria
Ferracuti et al., 1996	Not conducted in LMIC
Ferracuti & Demarco, 2004	Not conducted in LMIC
Ross et al., 2013	Not conducted in LMIC
Bourguignon, 2005	Study design
Bubandt et al., 2009	Study design
Cardena et al., 2009	Study design
Castillo, 1994	Study design
Chiu, 2000	Study design
Cohen et al., 2008	Study design
During et al., 2011	Study design
Halloy et al., 2012	Study design
Halperin, 1996	Study design
Hegemann, 2013	Study design
Hollan, 2000	Study design
Igreja et al., 2008	Study design
Masquelier, 2008	Study design
Odenwald et al., 2006	Study design
Reis, 2013	Study design
Rhodes, 2005a	Study design
Rhodes, 2005b	Study design
Sersch, 2013	Study design
Somer, 2004	Study design
Suprakash et al., 2013	Study design
Swift, 2006	Study design
Van Duijl et al., 2005	Study design
Van Duijl et al., 2012	Study design
Venkatachalam, 2011	Study design

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