From war to classroom: PTSD and depression in formerly abducted youth in Uganda
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in psychiatry
Abstract
Trained local screeners assessed the mental-health status of male and female
students in Northern Ugandan schools.The study aimed to disclose potential differences in
mental health-related impairment in two groups, former child soldiers (n D354) and other
war-affected youth (nD489), as well as to separate factors predicting mental suffering in
learners.
Methods: Participants were randomly selected. We used the Post-Traumatic Diagnostic
Scale to assess symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and for potential
depression the respective section of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist with a locally
validated cut-off.
Results: Almost all respondents had been displaced at least once in their life. 30% of girls
and 50% of the boys in the study reported past abduction history. Trauma exposure was
notably higher in the group of abductees. In former child soldiers, a PTSD rate of 32% was
remarkably higher than that for non-abductees (12%). Especially in girls rates of potential
depression were double those in the group of former abductees (17%) than in the group
of non-abductees (8%). In all groups, trauma exposure increased the risk of developing
PTSD. A path-analytic model for developing PTSD and potential depression revealed both
previous trauma exposure as well as duration of abduction to have significant influences on
trauma-related mental suffering. Findings also suggest that in Northern Ugandan schools
trauma spectrum disorders are common among war-affected learners.
Conclusions: Therefore, it is suggested the school context should be used to provide
mental-health support structures within the education system for war-affected youth at
likely risk of developing war-related mental distress.
Description
Keywords
Child soldiers, War-affected youth, PTSD, War-trauma exposure, Post-conflict mental-health support programs
Citation
Winkler, N., Ruf-Leuschner, M., Ertl, V., Pfeiffer, A., Schalinski, I., Ovuga, E., ... & Elbert, T. (2015). From war to classroom: PTSD and depression in formerly abducted youth in Uganda. Frontiers in psychiatry, 6, 2. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00002