Pergamon Joumsl of Anxiety Disorders, Vol. 9, No.4, pp. 339-350.1995 Copyright0 I995 Etsevier Science L.&l Printedin theUSA. All rights reserved 0887-6185/95 $9.50 + 80 0887-6185(95)00014-3 Severity of Trauma as Predictor of long-term Psychological Status in Survivors of Torture METIN BA@LU, M.D., PH.D. Institute of Psychiatry, IJniversi~ of London MURAT PAKER, M.D. New Schoolfor Social Resead, New York Abstract - Severity of trauma as a predictor of long-term psychological functioning was examined in 55 tortured politicrd ex-prisoners in Turkey. The assessments included semishuctured interviews and measures of anxiety, depression, and posttmumatic stress disorder. The severity of torture was assessedby measures of number of types of tor- ture, number of exposures to torture, duration of captivity, and perceived distress. The survivors reported a mean of 23 different forms of torture and a mean total of 291 expo sures to torture during their captivity. Despite severity of trauma, the number of expo sums to torture did not predict posttorture psychological problems, whereas ratings of perceived distress did. Implications of these findings for theory and classitication of psychological trauma and for legal practices concerning torture survivors are discussed. INTRODUCTION Study of torture not only serves a useful social and political purpose by pro- moting awareness of this human rights problem but can also provide valuable The project was supported in part by the Bromley Trust in the United Kingdom. The authors also wish to acknowledge the support of the Istanbul chamber of Medicine, the Turkish Human Rights Association, the Human Rights Association of Istanbul, and the Turkish Medical Association in conducting the study. Drs. &$ht Tqdemir, Brdogan ozmen, Cem Incesu, Do&m Sahin, and Nusin Sarimurat con- tributed to the collection of the data. We am deeply grateful to all study participants, who fully appreciated the need for scientific study in this field and its value for the human rights cause. Reprint requests should be sent to Metin Basoglu, MD, PhD, Institute of Psychiatry, 99 Denmark Hill, London SE5 ItAP, England. 339