Abstract
A postelection violent conflict in Kaduna resulted in 800 deaths and 65,000 displaced people leading to setting up of camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). We set out to determine the prevalence and pattern of psycho-traumatic stressful life events, psychological distress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among child/adolescents IDPs. A descriptive cross-sectional study of 73 child/adolescent IDPs were selected by total sampling. Stressful life event checklist measured conflict-related trauma and reaction of adolescents to traumatic stress (RATS) measured post-trauma reaction of children/adolescents. Hopkins Symptoms Checklist 37 for Adolescents measured psychological distress associated with trauma. Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used for diagnosis of PTSD. Of 73 respondents, 3 (4.1%) had probable PTSD, 2 (2.7%) had definitive PTSD, and mean score of the child/adolescent IDPs on HSCL-37A and RATS was 44.7 (SD = 6.3) and 31.9 (SD = 5.7), respectively. Most frequently occurring psychological distress among female participants was suddenly scared for no reason 7 (19.5%) and becoming angry easily and feeling fearful 5 (13.9%). The average score for female participants were higher than that for males on depressive and anxiety subscale of HSCL-37A. We concluded that children/adolescent IDPs were exposed to psycho-trauma following postelection violent conflict and developed psychological distress. However, the low prevalence of psychological distress and PTSD suggested that living with parents and psychosocial intervention provided could have led to much lower morbidity.
Highlights
A postelection violent conflict in Northern Nigeria resulted in 800 deaths and 65,000 displaced people over a period of 3 days in April 2011 [1]
Studies conducted among adults internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the same camp indicated 42% of the 258 adults IDPs had a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with more than half experiencing 11–15 traumatic events [2]
Adjustment disorder, depression, panic disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorders specific to childhood, and phobias are among mental health morbidities that have been commonly documented following disasters in children [7, 8]
Summary
A postelection violent conflict in Northern Nigeria resulted in 800 deaths and 65,000 displaced people over a period of 3 days in April 2011 [1]. A camp for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) was set up in Kaduna city, the capital of the state to cater for the IDPs. Studies conducted among adults IDPs in the same camp indicated 42% of the 258 adults IDPs had a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with more than half experiencing 11–15 traumatic events [2]. We set out to determine the prevalence and pattern of psycho-traumatic stressful life events, psychological distress, and PTSD among the children/adolescent IDPs in the Hajj camp in Kaduna, Nigeria. A postelection violent conflict in Kaduna resulted in 800 deaths and 65,000 displaced people leading to setting up of camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). We set out to determine the prevalence and pattern of psycho-traumatic stressful life events, psychological distress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among child/adolescents IDPs
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