The Rohingya Demaki (mental health) Measure (RDM)

Assessing mental health in humanitarian settings requires culturally responsive measurement tools that accurately capture distress and wellbeing. In the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, commonly used mental health scales—developed in different cultural contexts—may not fully reflect the lived experiences and expressions of psychological distress among Rohingya populations. We developed, adapted, and evaluated the psychometric properties and validity of the Rohingya Demaki (mental health) measure (RDM), an assessment tool designed to capture distress in the Rohingya population in Bangladesh..

Using data from 2,964 Rohingya participants (2,322 women; 642 men), we examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the RDM. Factor analyses revealed a three-factor structure—fear/anxious arousal, depression/reduced socialization, and physical symptoms. The RDM demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.8) and strong concurrent validity with a culturally adapted measure of daily functioning.

Findings highlight the need for contextually grounded mental health assessments in crisis-affected populations. By integrating local concepts and expressions of distress, the RDM provides a robust and reliable tool for evaluating mental health among Rohingya refugees, with implications for research, policy, and intervention programming.

See the measure and accompanying material hosted on the Open Science Framework website: https://osf.io/q75uv/