Village Characteristics Associated With Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Postconflict Liberia

Background: Group-level factors may be associated with mental health. We assessed whether various village-level variables were associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms in a resettled post-conflict population in Liberia. Methods: Individual surveys were administered to a population-based sample (n = 1434). We used multilevel random intercept linear regression models to estimate associations between individual-and village-level variables and posttraumatic-stress-symptom score. Results: In a multilevel model taking into account individual-level covariates, living in a village with higher mean number of traumatic experiences or greater history of displacement was associated with a higher symptom score. Conversely, living in a village with a more equal distribution of household wealth was associated with lower symptom score. Conclusions: Characteristics of communities, as well as of individuals, may be important determinants of posttraumatic stress in low-income countries, such as Liberia, that are recovering from conflict.