Prevalence of Vicarious Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Resilience Among the Tigrayan Diaspora in Australia: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study Following the Tigray Conflict

Monday, 7 July 2025: 13:00
Location: SJES008 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
Oral Presentation
Hailay GESESEW ABRHA, Torrens University Australia , Australia
Kiflu TESFAMICAEL, Lifelong Health, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, Australia, Australia
Lillian MWANRI, Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing (PHEHF), Australia
Azeb TESEMA, UNSW, Australia
Tesfay ATEY, Mekelle University, Ethiopia
Kalayu MIRUTS, Curtin University, Australia
Background: In November 2020, the Ethiopian Federal Government and its allied forces launched a war in the Tigray region, located in the northern part of Ethiopia. This war, coupled with the far-reaching impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, has had a detrimental impact on the mental health and overall wellbeing of Tigrayans living in other countries and abroad. The present study investigated the state of mental health and wellbeing among Tigrayan diaspora living in Australia, many of whom are migrants but most are refugees.

Methods: We employed a nationwide cross-sectional survey gathered through Qualtrics-designed hybrid data collection techniques. We assessed vicarious trauma using the secondary traumatic stress scale (STSS), depression, anxiety, and stress using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), PTSD using PTSD Checklist- Civilian Version (PCL-C), and resilience using the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10). We calculated the psychometric properties of these tools. We employed binary logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with the outcomes of interest.

Findings: 241 people participated in the survey. Intrusion symptoms of vicarious trauma were prevalent among 85.6% (172/201) of participants, avoidance symptoms of vicarious trauma among 87.6% (176/201) of participants, and arousal vicarious trauma among 83.6% (168/201) of participants. Extremely severe depression was prevalent among 38.2% (81/212) of participants, extremely severe anxiety among 47.6% (101/212) of participants, and extremely severe stress among (26.9% (57/212) of participants. PTSD symptoms were prevalent among 75% (151/204) of participants. Resilience was reduced among 67.5% (135/200) of participants.

Interpretation: Four out of five Tigrayans reported experiencing symptoms of vicarious trauma; and three out of four Tigrayans in Australia reported conflict attributable PTSD symptoms and severe depression, anxiety, and stress due to the conflict in Tigray. This implies that conflict occurring in one’s home country can have a profound impact on the mental wellbeing of individuals residing abroad.

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