TY - JOUR
T1 - Does everyone have a name? Psychological distress and quality of life among child holocaust survivors with lost identity
AU - Amir, Marianne
AU - Lev-Wiesel, Rachel
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc. and by the Israel Science Foundation Grant number 777/99-1. We thank Dr. Avi Besser for his invaluable help with all the drafts and data analyses of this paper.
PY - 2001/12/1
Y1 - 2001/12/1
N2 - Knowing one's identity, name, and biological parents is considered essential to personality development and psychological well-being. This study assessed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, subjective quality of life (QoL), psychological distress, and potency in a group of adults who were children during the Holocaust (child Holocaust survivors) and who did not know their true identity. Twenty-three such survivors were compared to 23 child Holocaust survivors who knew their identity. Results showed that survivors with lost identity had lower physical, psychological, and social QoL and higher somatization, depression, and anxiety scores than did survivors with known identity. The findings suggest that the psychological consequences of not knowing one's identity are long-lasting.
AB - Knowing one's identity, name, and biological parents is considered essential to personality development and psychological well-being. This study assessed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, subjective quality of life (QoL), psychological distress, and potency in a group of adults who were children during the Holocaust (child Holocaust survivors) and who did not know their true identity. Twenty-three such survivors were compared to 23 child Holocaust survivors who knew their identity. Results showed that survivors with lost identity had lower physical, psychological, and social QoL and higher somatization, depression, and anxiety scores than did survivors with known identity. The findings suggest that the psychological consequences of not knowing one's identity are long-lasting.
KW - Child holocaust survivors
KW - Lost identity
KW - PTSD
KW - Quality of life
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035668725&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1023/A:1013010709789
DO - 10.1023/A:1013010709789
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035668725
SN - 0894-9867
VL - 14
SP - 859
EP - 869
JO - Journal of Traumatic Stress
JF - Journal of Traumatic Stress
IS - 4
ER -
