Current mental health and reconciliation sentiment of victims of the genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda

Two hundred and seven victims of the genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda were presented with the Rwandan version of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ), and with reconciliation sentiment items. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the factor structure of the GHQ was examined. The three-factor structure suggested by some authors reasonably fitted the data but two factors - Anxiety and depression, and Loss of confidence - were extremely correlated. As a result, a reduced two-factor model was tested, and the fit of this model was found to be reasonable. As regards the anxiety, depression and loss of confidence factor, the level of mental health observed among victims was lower than the level of mental health observed among Europeans who were never directly exposed to violence. As regards the social dysfunction factor, however, no difference was evidenced. A positive association between mental health and reconciliation sentiment was observed.