Previous research has confirmed that various types oftrauma, related to both wartime and peacetime, can negatively affectpsychological development and promote the occurrence of mental disorders inyouth and adults. Results of previous studies in the field of post-conflictmental health suggest that certain psychological consequences can persist foryears after traumatic events.

For this reason we have decided to investigate thepresence of anxiety and depression in young people who were exposed towar-related trauma during childhood. Special emphasis is given to clinicallysignificant forms of these emotions.

The aim of the study was todetermine the differences in intensity and frequency of clinically relevantanxiety and depression in students exposed to warfare during childhood.

The study comprised 324students from Serbia and Kosovo, aged 18-25, exposed to war-related events(WREs) during childhood. We used the Generalquestionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory I (BDI-I), and the BeckAnxiety Inventory (BAI).

Approximately 2/3 of all of the examinees had clinicallysignificant anxiety, while 1/3 had clinically significant depression. Thefemales had higher intensity of anxiety (16.22 vs. 11.6; p<0.001) anddepression (9.57 vs. 7.05; p=0.004) than males. The examinees who reported WREsfrom two or three types of events had more intense anxiety (p=0.013) anddepression (p=0.013) than a group with one or no WREs.

There is an association between WREs duringchildhood and anxiety as well as depression in adolescence, more prominent infemales.