Aim: To evaluate psychosomatic complaints and depressive symptoms among civilians, refugees, and soldiers in the war and post-war period in Croatia.
Method: The design of the study was longitudinal, including four repeated assessments during the war and post-war period (1993, 1995, 2000, and 2004). The baseline assessment included 480 male participants who were asked to fill out the questionnaires about demographic data, psychosomatic complaints, and depressive symptoms. The final sample included 128 civilians, 88 refugees, and 70 soldiers, who were interviewed at all assessment time points.
Results: Levels of psychosomatic and depressive symptoms changed with time. Refugees showed the highest level of depressive symptoms in general (F=4.17, P=0.016). Psychosomatic complaints were dominant in soldiers and refugees at all assessment time points (F=210.30, P<0.001). Soldiers showed a significant increase in psychosomatic complaints with time, whereas refugees showed a decrease. Contrary to these findings, civilians showed relatively low level of psychosomatic complaints and did not show any significant changes with time.
Conclusion: It seems that for refugees and soldiers, prolonged stressful situation has long-term health implications primary related to the psychosomatic complaints.