Being child of prisoners of war: The case of mental health status

Objective; Captivity has political, mental and social effects on captives. According to stress severity, captivity duration, religious idea, resistance and affective susceptibility, captivity causes significant mental and neurological effects. Present study was aimed to evaluate mental situation of captives' children in Isfahan Province. Material & Methods. This was a cross-sectional analytic observational study. Strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SQD) was used for mental evaluation of captives' children. We selected 384 objectives by random sampling. Findings. There was a significant difference between emotional signs, disruptive and communicational problems and social behaviors related with the age of children. A significant difference was also seen between emotional signs and educational level of children. Conclusion: Captivity of the father in long term has unsuitable physical and mental effects on children. Rate of these effects depends on mother's reaction to loss of spouse as well as age, and the social support provided for children.