War and disaster in Sri Lanka: Depression, family adjustment and health among women heading households

Abstract

Background: The civil war, lasting from 1983 to 2009, and the tsunami that struck Southeastern Asia in 2004 were major stressors that changed the demographic landscape of the northern province of Sri Lanka. The composition of families changed dramatically, with an increase in female-headed households, largely due to casualties. The conservation of resources (COR) model was applied in this study to examine relationships between risk and resiliency factors among women heading households, including women widowed by war or disaster. Aims: This study represents an investigation of the association between predictive risk and resiliency factors (i.e. war damage and loss, social support, economic status, religious participation and discrimination) and outcomes representing well-being (depressive symptoms, family adjustment and a rating of physical health). Methods: Data from 514 women heading households living in the Kilinochchi district of Sri Lanka were collected through face-to-face interviews in 2013, and associations among the data were estimated using path analysis. Results: Results suggest that resiliency factors that are representative of greater resources generally predicted lower levels of distress and vice versa. Conclusion: Further study informing intervention development with women heading households in Sri Lanka is warranted to better understand which individual, family and community resources are most important to mobilize for sustainable recovery efforts to be successful in the decades following war and natural disaster.