Refugees typically experience a range of traumatic events that negatively impact physical and mental health. Numerous studies have found refugees to be at greater risk for psychopathology than nonrefugee populations (Boehnlein & Kinzie, 1995; Ekblad & Roth, 1997). While countries in Africa contribute about one-third of the world's 12 million refugees, very few studies have been conducted to investigate their mental health status. Further, while West African nations comprise 2 of the top 10 refugee-producing countries in the world, virtually no attempt has been made to investigate their mental health. It must be noted that a substantial number of West African refugees have or will be resettled in the U.S. thereby contributing to the approximately 67,000 African refugees who have been admitted to the U.S. since 1980 for permanent resettlement (U.S. State Dept., 1998). It is thus the long-term objective of this project to develop culturally sensitive versions of assessment instruments relevant to the West African refugee that may be used in clinical settings within the U.S. A further objective is to apply such instruments in a study of the trauma events and psychiatric sequelae of a sample of West African refugees residing in United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps as a means of establishing West African norms. These objectives will be accomplished in 4 phases, the first being the development of West African versions of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) and Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25).
The aim of the second phase is the establishment of the reliability (test-retest, inter-rater, internal consistency) for these West African versions in the context of a study of 100 participants.
The aim of the third phase, also within the context of a study of I00, is to establish the validity (content, construct, criterion) of the new versions of the HTQ and HSCL-25. Phase 4 comprises a study of 300 adult West African refugees residing in 4 UNHCR camps as a means of establishing West African norms.
