@article {4836, title = {After abduction: exploring access to reintegration programs and mental health status among young female abductees in Northern Uganda}, journal = {Confl Health}, volume = {8}, year = {2014}, note = {Muldoon, Katherine A
Muzaaya, Godfrey
Betancourt, Theresa S
Ajok, Mirriam
Akello, Monica
Petruf, Zaira
Nguyen, Paul
Baines, Erin K
Shannon, Kate
eng
England
2014/05/24 06:00
Confl Health. 2014 May 7;8:5. doi: 10.1186/1752-1505-8-5. eCollection 2014.}, pages = {5}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Reintegration programs are commonly offered to former combatants and abductees to acquire civilian status and support services to reintegrate into post-conflict society. Among a group of young female abductees in northern Uganda, this study examined access to post-abduction reintegration programming and tested for between group differences in mental health status among young women who had accessed reintegration programming compared to those who self-reintegrated. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analysed interviews from 129 young women who had previously been abducted by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). Data was collected between June 2011-January 2012. Interviews collected information on abduction-related experiences including age and year of abduction, manner of departure, and reintegration status. Participants were coded as {\textquoteright}reintegrated{\textquoteright} if they reported >/=1 of the following reintegration programs: traditional cleansing ceremony, received an amnesty certificate, reinsertion package, or had gone to a reception centre. A t-test was used to measure mean differences in depression and anxiety measured by the Acholi Psychosocial Assessment Instrument (APAI) to determine if abductees who participated in a reintegration program had different mental status from those who self-reintegrated. RESULTS: From 129 young abductees, 56 (43.4\%) had participated in a reintegration program. Participants had been abducted between 1988-2010 for an average length of one year, the median age of abduction was 13 years (IQR:11-14) with escaping (76.6\%), being released (15.6\%), and rescued (7.0\%) being the most common manner of departure from the LRA. Traditional cleansing ceremonies (67.8\%) were the most commonly accessed support followed by receiving amnesty (37.5\%), going to a reception centre (28.6\%) or receiving a reinsertion package (12.5\%). Between group comparisons indicated that the mental health status of abductees who accessed >/=1 reintegration program were not significantly different from those who self-reintegrated (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Over 40\% of female abductees in this sample had accessed a reintegration program, however significant differences in mental health were not observed between those who accessed a reintegration program and those who self-reintegrated. The successful reintegration of combatants and abductees into their recipient community is a complex process and these results support the need for gender-specific services and ongoing evaluation of reintegration programming.}, keywords = {Abduction, Mental Health, Northern Uganda, Reintegration, Women}, isbn = {1752-1505 (Print)
1752-1505 (Linking)}, author = {Muldoon, K. A. and Muzaaya, G. and Betancourt, T. S. and Ajok, M. and Akello, M. and Petruf, Z. and Nguyen, P. and Baines, E. K. and Shannon, K.} }