Living in Camps Impacts on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Displaced People in Northwest Syria

Abstract

The research aimed to study the impact of living in displacement camps on mental health and Quality of life among Syrians in Northwest Syria. A descriptive and analytical approach was utilized, where two scales of mental health (SCL – 90 - R) and Quality of life (WHOQOL – BREF) were applied, with (306) participants. Results show that symptoms of mental health disorders appear at different levels, where the most common disorder is Depression, and the least common is Psychoticism. Quality of life results show that the most common issue was General Health, and the least common was environmental health. Differences between educational status and gender were statistically significant when studying the presence of mental health disorders, where it was lower in males than in females. Quality of life results showed significant differences between all demographic characteristics except the duration of stay in the camp. It was higher in females than in males. It was higher among the employed than the unemployed, and the age (under 18 years) had the highest Quality of life .Regarding marital status, it was highest in the (single and widowed). The Quality of life was highest among the university degree holders. There was a moderate and inverse correlation between Symptoms of mental health disorders and Quality of life, where the correlation coefficient was (-0.382), and this indicates a lower level of mental health with increasing deterioration in Quality of life. The results showed that Quality of life contributes to interpreting the variance in Symptoms of mental health disorders. The beta value (β = - 0.391) means that whenever Quality of life improved by one unit, Symptoms of mental health disorders decreased by (0.391) unit . To conclude, quality of life statistically significantly contributes to explaining mental health disorders among Syrians in displaced camps.