TORTURE AND MENTAL HEALTH IN SOUTH AFRICA

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：本提案寻求五个 年的支持，流行病学调查的患病率和精神 酷刑对健康的影响（南非）。 该研究有七个 具体目标：1）确定暴露的普遍性和分布情况 种族隔离期间的创伤; 2）估计种族隔离对心理健康的影响 通过研究观察到的与适当使用的相关性， 有针对性的比较和统计控制; 3）研究 一系列假设的压力素质变量在修改 压力暴露与心理健康之间的关系; 4）检查 在多大程度上，一些应对资源，原来是保护的， 种族隔离时期的精神健康状况目前与 心理健康状况不佳和应激反应增强; 5）调查 真相与和解委员会对精神健康的影响 6）估计目前的流行率， SA中常见精神障碍的社会人口学相关性， 与这些障碍相关的角色障碍，以及 目前的治疗方案;和7）研究专业的预测因素 寻求帮助的南非人谁目前有精神障碍。 没有 南澳大利亚州有关于这些问题的具有全国代表性的数据。 拟议 研究提供了一个前所未有的机会，以提高对 种族政治暴力对精神健康的影响 在过渡到多数人统治后不久，原籍国。 的 项目汇集了经验丰富的多学科团队与高级 包括南非国立大学校长在内的调查人员 MEDUNSA的公共卫生，第一次全国调查的主任， 美国的精神健康，SA TRC的专员，以及调查 密歇根大学的研究专家。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): This proposal seeks five years of support for an epidemiologic survey of the prevalence and mental health consequences of torture in South Africa (SA). The study has seven specific aims: 1) To identify the prevalence and distribution of exposure to trauma during apartheid; 2) To estimate the mental health consequences of trauma exposure by studying the observed associations with appropriate use of targeted comparisons and statistical controls; 3) To study the effects of a series of hypothesized stress-diathesis variables in modifying the associations between stress exposure and mental health; 4) To examine the extent to which some coping resources that were originally protective of mental health during the years of apartheid are currently associated with poor mental health and heightened stress reactivity; 5) To investigate the impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the mental health of South Africans; 6) To estimate the current prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of commonly occurring mental disorders in SA, the role impairments associated with these disorders, and adequacy of current treatment options; and 7) To study predictors of professional help-seeking among South Africans who currently have mental disorders. No nationally representative data exists on these issues in SA. The proposed study provides an unprecedented opportunity to enhance understanding of the mental health consequences of exposure to racial-political violence in the country of origin a short time after transition to majority rule. The project brings together an experienced multidisciplinary team with senior investigators that include the Dean of South Africa's National School of Public Health at MEDUNSA, the director of the first national survey of mental health in the United States, commissioners of the SA TRC, and survey research experts from the University of Michigan.