Type of Publication: | Journal article |
URI (citable link): | http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-0-291559 |
Author: | Winkler, Nina; Ruf-Leuschner, Martina; Ertl, Verena; Pfeiffer, Anett; Schalinski, Inga; Ovuga, Emilio; Neuner, Frank; Elbert, Thomas |
Year of publication: | 2015 |
Published in: | Frontiers in Psychiatry ; 6 (2015). - 2. - eISSN 1664-0640 |
DOI (citable link): | https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00002 |
Summary: |
Background: 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 = 354) and other war-affected youth (n = 489), 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. |
Subject (DDC): | 150 Psychology |
Keywords: | child soldiers, war-affected youth, PTSD, war-trauma exposure, post-conflict mental-health support programs |
Link to License: | Attribution 4.0 International |
Bibliography of Konstanz: | Yes |
WINKLER, Nina, Martina RUF-LEUSCHNER, Verena ERTL, Anett PFEIFFER, Inga SCHALINSKI, Emilio OVUGA, Frank NEUNER, Thomas ELBERT, 2015. From war to classroom : PTSD and depression in formerly abducted youth in Uganda. In: Frontiers in Psychiatry. 6, 2. eISSN 1664-0640. Available under: doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00002
@article{Winkler2015class-31059, title={From war to classroom : PTSD and depression in formerly abducted youth in Uganda}, year={2015}, doi={10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00002}, volume={6}, journal={Frontiers in Psychiatry}, author={Winkler, Nina and Ruf-Leuschner, Martina and Ertl, Verena and Pfeiffer, Anett and Schalinski, Inga and Ovuga, Emilio and Neuner, Frank and Elbert, Thomas}, note={Article Number: 2} }
Winkler_0-291559.pdf | 978 |