摘要：Prevalence of mental disorders, including stress-related disorders is particularly high among war-affected populations. War trauma caused longterm mental health effects among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia as well (Makhashvili et al., 2014). International and local evidence indicates increased mental health burden arising from COVID-19 stressors. The psychosocial effects of the pandemic disproportionately affect young people (Power et al., 2020; UNICEF, 2020). The aim of the study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 related stressors on the mental health of young internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia. Method: The mixed research method was used with online quantitative survey and face-to-face qualitative interviews. 2 main groups of IDPs aged 18-25 were studied – those who were displaced due to the 90’s conflict and IDPs from the 2008 war. Results: The study shows that the young IDPs are meeting diagnostic criteria of anxiety (50%), depression (34%), and PTSD (38%) and comorbidity is high. The 2008 IDPs youths – who witnessed war – have higher rates of depression and PTSD. Qualitative data indicate tendencies of alienation and feeling of danger in interpersonal relations; IDPs note some disturbing similarities between war and pandemic experiences that are triggering their mental health problems. Conclusions: COVID-19 related stressors negatively affect the mental health of IDPs youth. This impact is almost twice higher than in the general population’s same age groups. The policy and service recommendations to protect and promote young IDPs mental well-being will be discussed during the presentation.
