Refugee women arriving in Germany in 2015–2016 reported moderate quality of life, slightly worse than European populations. War, terror, and threats to life were the most common reasons for fleeing. Eighty-seven percent used smugglers, which was linked to living in a war zone and homelessness before fleeing. Lower quality of life correlated with older age, near-death experiences, family attacks, and lack of healthcare. The findings suggest that multiple traumatic experiences, some gender-specific, affect current well-being and may hinder integration.
A pilot study examined a Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) group program for chronic depression. From a waiting list of 2207 cases, 12 participants were assigned to the LKM group. Two control groups (n=134 and n=12) were formed using inclusion/exclusion criteria and propensity score matching. The LKM group showed significant pre-post improvements on the OQ-30, but not on depression-specific scales (BDI-II and HAM-D). Compared to the full waiting-list control (n=134), OQ-30 improvements were significant; compared to the matched control, differences were marginal. The LKM group had more reliable OQ-30 improvements than controls. The program had lower dropout than prior pilots and good pre-post effect size on the OQ-30, but inconsistent effects on depression scales.