Traumatic stress and psychological functioning in a South African adolescent community sample
South African Journal of Psychiatry
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Traumatic stress and psychological functioning in a South African adolescent community sample | |
| Creator | Swain, Karl D. Pillay, Basil J. Kliewer, Wendy | |
| Description | Background: Traumatic stress may arise from various incidents often leading to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The lifetime prevalence of PTSD is estimated at 1% – 2% in Western Europe, 6% – 9% in North America and at just over 10% in countries exposed to long-term violence. In South Africa, the lifetime prevalence for PTSD in the general population is estimated at 2.3%.Aim: To examine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and related psychological functioning in a community sample of adolescents.Setting: Low-socioeconomic communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Methods: Home interviews with adolescents and their maternal caregivers were used to collect the data using standardised instruments. Adolescents completed the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children; Children’s Depression Inventory; Children’s Somatization Inventory; and Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale. The Child Behaviour Checklist was completed by the caregivers. The sample comprised Grade 7 (n = 256) and Grade 10 (n = 68) learners. Sixty-five percent of the sample was female, and ages ranged from 9 to 18 (M = 13.11, s.d. = 1.54).Results: Almost 6% of the sample endorsed PTSD and an additional 4% of the participants had clinically significant traumatic stress symptomatology. There was a significant, large, positive correlation between posttraumatic stress and anxiety, and medium positive correlations between posttraumatic stress and depression and somatic symptoms.Conclusion: Posttraumatic stress symptomatology can be debilitating, often co-occurring with symptoms of depression, anxiety and somatic complications. This may lead to long-term academic, social and emotional consequences in this vulnerable group. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2017-03-10 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v23i0.1008 | |
| Source | South African Journal of Psychiatry; Vol 23 (2017); 6 pages 2078-6786 1608-9685 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1008/792
https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1008/791
https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1008/793
https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1008/787
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