Resumo

SWAIN, Karl D.; PILLAY, Basil J.  e  KLIEWER, Wendy. Traumatic stress and psychological functioning in a South African adolescent community sample. S. Afr. j. psyc. [online]. 2017, vol.23, n.1, pp.1-6. ISSN 2078-6786.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v23i0.1008.

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.

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