The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

116
The PAVE Project Report
5.5. DISCUSSION
L
ong-term recovery from trauma is difficult to assess and even more difficult
to achieve. Results indicate that most participants scored significantly higher
on measures of general psychological health, depression, and PTSD severity than
people in other parts of the UK and overall levels of general psychological health,
depression, and PTSD severity were significantly correlated. Most participants were
affected by more than one traumatic event. These events occurred pre- as well as postceasefire
and 2/3 of the participants were there when the traumatic event happened. In
other words, many of the participants had witnessed the violent death or injury of a
loved one.
Nearly half of the participants felt that they had coped fairly well with their trauma,
although results from the standardized measures of psychological health, depression,
and PTSD severity told a different story. While some protective factors were
identified that seem related to better psychological health (e.g. being able to talk with
family), risk factors were identified that seem related to poorer psychological health
(e.g. been affected by violence in more than one way or having money worries).
The baseline assessment revealed that services offered by victims groups were used
frequently and in the long-term. Generally speaking, allocation to specific services
was not related to levels of mental health, depression, or PTSD symptom severity, and
most participants availed of more than one service at a time. Yet, little is known about