CVT Journal Articles

Screening for War Trauma, Torture, and Mental Health Symptoms Among Newly Arrived Refugees

The first national survey of refugee mental health screening practices found that while refugee trauma survivors are at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression, most states do not provide mental health screenings. Of the 25 states that provide mental health screening, 17 use informal conversation rather than standardized measures. Co-author Patricia Shannon, MSW, PhD is a research associate at CVT and assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. The article was published in the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies (paid access only).

Evaluating the Mental Health Training Needs of Community-based Organizations Serving Refugees

This article published in Advances in Social Work (Vol 13, No 2) in 2012 looked at the mental health knowledge and training needs of refugee-serving community based organizations, and makes policy recommendations for improving the services offered to refugees. The authors are Jennifer Ann Simmelink, a Doctoral Candidate, and Patricia Shannon, PhD, LP, an Assistant Professor, both in the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Shannon is also a research associate with CVT’s Healing in Partnership project.

CVT is grateful to the St. Paul Foundation whose financial support made this work possible.

Refugee’s Perspectives on Barriers to Communication about Trauma Histories in Primary Care

This article published in Mental Health in Family Medicine (vol 9 pp 47-55) found that many refugees fleeing political conflict and violence are affected by their experiences, but have not spoken to their doctors about them. Most refugees surveyed said they would talk to their doctors to receive help for the health, and many showed an interest in learning how stress and trauma affect their health. The authors are Patrician Shannon, PhD, LP, research associate with CVT’s Healing in Partnership project, Erin Mehta, RN, PHN, CVT nurse and clinic manager, and Maureen O’Dougherty with the University of Minnesota. The study is based on data collected as part of CVT’s New Neighbors/Hidden Scars project.

PTSD Symptom Structure Among West African War Trauma Survivors Living in African Refugee Camps: A Factor-Analytic Investigation

In this article published by the Journal of Traumatic Stress, CVT researchers Gregory Vinson, Ph.D. and Zoua Chang, Ph.D., L.P. found that, for West African refugees, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms clustered in four symptom areas.  This is in keeping with other recent research with trauma victims but in contrast with the diagnostic manual used to diagnose PTSD.  Most research on PTSD comes from studies on veterans in the West. This study is among the first to examine PTSD symptoms with non-Western, civilian, war-affected populations remaining in their region-of-origin.

Torture Survivors: What to ask, how to document (PDF)

This article in the Journal of Family Practice (April 2012) provides practical information for primary care providers to help them better identify survivors of torture, assess and document consequent morbidities and refer them to appropriate treatment programs. The article was written by Steven H. Miles, M.D., CVT board member, and Rosa E. Garcia-Peltoniemi, PhD, LP, senior consulting clinician at CVT.