Time does not heal all wounds: Quality of life and psychological distress of people who survived the Holocaust as children 55 years later

The present study assessed posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) symptoms, psychological distress, and subjective quality of life (QoL) in a group of 43 child Holocaust survivors and a community sample of 44 persons who had not personally experienced the Holocaust. The participants were administered the PTSD-Scale, the SCL-90, and the WHOQOL-Bref. Results showed that the child survivors had higher PTSD symptom scores, higher depression, anxiety, somatization, and anger hostility scores; and lower physical, psychological, and social QoL than did the comparison group. The findings suggest that the psychological consequences of being a child during the Holocaust can be long lasting.