Abstract
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.
Highlights
For at least two decades, civilians in Northern Uganda have been exposed to organized violence including widespread atrocities, child soldiering, and other crimes against humanity
Trauma exposure increased the risk of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Findings suggest that in Northern Ugandan schools trauma spectrum disorders are common among war-affected learners
Summary
For at least two decades, civilians in Northern Uganda have been exposed to organized violence including widespread atrocities, child soldiering, and other crimes against humanity. Youth in conflict zones are at risk of developing mental disorders related to their exposure to continuous and traumatic stress. A subgroup of them, namely those associated with armed groups, has been found to be prone to developing trauma-related mental suffering, which includes symptoms summarized under the diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) [2]. 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
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