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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO386

Associations of disturbances in self-organization and social reactions to trauma disclosure with quality of life among North Korean defectors

DISTURBANCES IN SELF-ORGANIZATION AND SOCIAL REACTIONS TO TRAUMA DISCLOSURE ASSOCIATED WITH QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS

The main factors explaining quality of life among North Korean defectors are symptoms of disturbances in self-organization and positive and negative social reactions to trauma disclosure.

The aim was to examine the relative contributions of trauma-related and social factors to quality of life (QoL) among North Korean defectors (NKD). In a cross-sectional design, 202 defectors were assessed (mean age 48.13, standard deviation 12.83; range 20 to 85; 168 women, 83.2%; 34 men, 16.8%). Quality of life was assessed using a single-item WHOQOL measure, and variables were classified as sociodemographic, trauma-related personal, and social factors. Hierarchical regression and relative importance analysis based on the LMG (Lindeman–Merenda–Gold) method were conducted using SPSS and R. In the sample, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was 28 individuals (13.9%), and that of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) was 18 individuals (8.9%). The PTSD symptom score was 7.90 ± 6.39, the disturbances in self-organization (DSO) symptom score was 5.00 ± 5.00, and the CPTSD symptom score was 12.89 ± 10.64. The total score for negative social reactions to trauma disclosure was 25.65 ± 15.44 (stigmatization 5.64 ± 4.29; distraction 6.73 ± 4.59; taking control 6.40 ± 5.03; victim blaming 1.90 ± 1.61; egocentric responses 4.98 ± 3.13), while the total score for positive reactions was 43.71 ± 14.94 (emotional support 36.40 ± 13.14; tangible aid 7.31 ± 3.38). In the final model, adjusted for age, sex, lifetime trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, and openness to discussing mental health problems, the explained variance was R2 = 0.206 (adjusted R2 = 0.173). DSO symptoms were associated with lower quality of life (beta = -0.320; p = 0.002), positive social reactions with higher quality of life (beta = 0.169; p = 0.020), and negative social reactions with lower quality of life (beta = -0.152; p = 0.033). In the relative importance analysis, DSO accounted for the largest proportion of the explained variance (35.34%), followed by positive reactions (21.24%) and negative reactions (16.90%). The authors conclude that quality of life in this group is primarily determined by trauma-related DSO symptoms and reactions to trauma disclosure, highlighting the importance of addressing DSO symptoms and strengthening supportive social environments.

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