Social support and PTSD symptoms in war-traumatized women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OBJECTIVE To determine the correlation between social support and PTSD symptoms in women traumatized by the war and postwar social insecurity in Herzegovina. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The experimental group consisted of 187 randomly selected women living in Mostar, who were exposed to a wide spectrum of traumatic events during the war. The control group included 180 women living in the area surrounding Mostar who were not directly exposed to war destruction. Demographic data were obtained and a battery of psychological tests was used to measure the level of war traumatization and PTSD symptoms, along with the perception of social support. RESULTS Women in the experimental group had significantly lower levels of perceived social support from friends (t=2.91; p<0.05) and coworkers (t=2.30; p<0.05). However, its protective significance for all levels of posttraumatic symptoms was strong, even stronger than social support from the family. Of all the sources of emotional social support, low level of perceived support from friends is the only significant predictor of PTSD. CONCLUSION The sources of social support which the traumatized women drew from family, friends and coworkers change their significance depending on their availability. These sources are a strong predictive factor of PTSD development.