Archives of Depression and Anxiety ISSN: 2455-5460 DOI CC By 049 Citation: Badri A, Crutzen R, Van den Borne HW (2017) Anxiety, Depression and Resilience among War-Affected and Non-War-Affected Sudanese Female University Students: A Comparative Study. Arch Depress Anxiety 3(2): 049-054. DOI: http://doi.org/10.17352/2455-5460.000023 Medical Group Abstract Objective: To investigate and compare mental health status between war-affected Darfuri and non- war-affected Omdurmani undergraduate students at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman city, Sudan. Method: A cross-sectional study was used to assess and compare the anxiety, depression (HSCL- 25) and resilience scores (Resilience Scale) and related demographic variables for 116 Darfuri and 299 Omdurmani students. Results: Overall anxiety, depression and resilience scores varied minimally between Darfuri and Omdurmani students. Depression scores were negatively related with resilience scores, but not with anxiety scores. Younger participants (15-20 years) and those who had a parent deceased were more anxious, while those whose father was a blue-collar worker (indicating low socio-economic status) were more depressed, but also more resilient. Furthermore, participants whose tuition fees were paid by their parents (indicating a higher socio-economic status) scored lower on resilience. Conclusion: This study provides evidence of considerably high anxiety and depression scores, and moderate resilience levels amongst the sample. The results are discussed with a view of assistance in the development of a comprehensive multidimensional psychosocial counselling intervention. Research Article Anxiety, Depression and Resilience among War-Affected and Non-War- Affected Sudanese Female University Students: A Comparative Study Alia Badri 1,2 *, Rik Crutzen 1§ and H.W. Van den Borne 1§ 1 Department of Health promotion, CAPHRI, School of Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, The Netherlands 2 School of Psychology and Pre-School Education, Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Sudan § These authors contributed equally to this work Dates: Received: 21 August, 2017; Accepted: 03 October, 2017; Published: 05 October, 2017 *Corresponding author: Alia Badri, Department of Health promotion, CAPHRI, School of Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, The Netherlands and School of Psychology and Pre-School Education, Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Sudan, E-mail: Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Resilience; Sudanese female students https://www.peertechz.com Introduction With the growing Sudanese Diaspora, whether as internally displaced people (IDPs) or as refugees, the increasing body of literature has highlighted the issue of pre and post displacement concerns on the poor mental health status among survivors of war. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder and depression are the most frequent pre- displacement manifestations of mental health problems among Sudanese (Peltzer, 1999), while, post-displacement concerns of current on-going life stressor suggest an impact on elevated levels of psychosocial maladjustment within a host community (Schweitzer, Melville, Steel and Lacherez, 2006). Recent studies assessing Darfuri IDP women’s mental health concluded that 31% - 38% exhibited signs of major depression symptoms (Kim, Torbay, and Lawry, 2007; Morgos, Worden & Gupta, 2007). Furthermore, Rasmussen and colleagues (2010) and Hamid and Musa (2010) have acknowledged that both pre- displacement factors and post-displacement stressors such as daily social and material pressures contributed to the mental health burden among Darfuri IDPs. Furthermore, anticipatory anxiety symptoms amongst those not directly exposed nor displaced by war occur in much the same way as war survivors (Thabet, Abed, and Vostanis, 2002). The possibility of associated factors such as the occurrence of daily life stressors (Paardekooper, de Jong, and Herman 1999), economic, social and cultural disruptions and changes in their ecological systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) have also predicted a higher than expected prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms amongst urban populations, particularly amongst women (Lundberg, et al., 2009; Broadhead and, Abas, 1997; Mumford, et al., 2000). Additional stressors of everyday life related to social problems, finance and budgeting, accommodation adjustments, and academic challenges have been shown to increase the risk of anxiety disorders and depressive episodes among university students (Hysenbegasi, Hass, Rowland,