Identifying psychological functioning subgroups of refugee trauma survivors

Purpose: Refugee health research has consistently identified impairments of psychological functioning in post-resettlement lives. The purpose of these analyses was to identify possible subgroups of refugee trauma survivors based on levels of trauma and psychological functioning. Setting: Twin Cities, Minnesota. Participants: 449 trauma survivors (48% female, mean(SD) age = 37(15)) from a study assessing the prevalence of trauma and associated factors in Somali and Oromo refugees. Study design: Secondary data analysis. Methods: Latent class analysis was used to identify levels of function groups. Number of latent classes and class membership were based on dichotomized scores from standard, psychometrically sound measures of post traumatic stress symptoms, somatic symptoms, social support, functional impairment, and disability. Level of reported exposure to trauma, gender, ethnicity age, religion, and education were compared across the resulting classes to further assess their utility. Preliminary results: The best model, based on goodness-of-fit measures, was determined to have six classes. Classes included all combinations of high/low trauma and functioning levels. For example, female gender, older age, living without a spouse, responsibilities for children, and limited education were associated with high exposure to trauma and low psychological functioning. In contrast, younger women with fewer family responsibilities reported equally high trauma levels but higher functioning scores. (all p < .001) Conclusions: Six latent classes identify subgroups of Somali and Oromo refugees reporting ranges of trauma exposure and other factors associated with psychological functioning. Results have implications for appropriately targeting higher risk refugees for psycho-social support interventions.