Community trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder in Chinese children and adolescents

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Lu Sun¹  Xiaoping Li¹  Xiangdong Li²  Ting Yuan³  Yunxiao Lei³  Congzhi Wang⁴  Liu Yang⁴  Lin Zhang⁴  Jin-long Li⁵  Dongmei Zhang⁶  Guang Xu⁷  Lei-lei Guo⁸  Ying Hua⁹  Haiyang Liu^1,10 

[1] Department of Emergency and Critical Care Nursing, School of Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;Department of Gerontology, Yijishan Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics Nursing, School of Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;Department of Internal Medicine Nursing, School of Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Key Laboratory of Occupational Health and Safety for Coal Industry in Hebei Province, School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei, China;Department of Pediatric Nursing, School of Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;Department of Radiotherapy, Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China;Department of Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China;Rehabilitation Nursing, School of Nursing, Wanna Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;Student Health Center, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China;

关键词: adolescent;    community;    traumatic events;    post-traumatic stress disorder;    children;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1151631

 received in 2023-01-26, accepted in 2023-09-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAn increasing number of studies have shown the association between traumatic events occurring in childhood and adolescence and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A gap remains in the literature on the epidemiology and influencing factors of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder in communities in northern China. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of traumatic events and PTSD in communities in northern China, to explore the types of stressful traumatic events and the impact of these traumatic events on children and adolescents, and to investigate the effect of sociodemographic factors on PTSD.MethodsA cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 6,027 students (7–17 years old) from 6 cities in Liaoning Province, China. The sample consisted of 2,853 males (47.34%) and 3,174 females (52.66%). The Essen Trauma-Inventory for Children and Adolescents (ETI-CA) Scale was used. The ETI-CA has 5 sections, which include type of traumatic events, worst traumatic event, post-traumatic symptoms, onset, duration, burden of PTSD, and present difficulties in different areas of life. PTSD symptoms were assessed with 23 items in Part 3 of the ETI-CA.ResultsWe found that 2,068 (34.3%) of 6,027 participants experienced trauma events and 686 (33.2%) of 2,068 reported PTSD. Among trauma-exposed youth (2,068), the sudden death of close relatives (33.9%), serious accidents (20.9%), and parental divorce (15.5%) were reported as the worst traumatic events. Studies have shown that after exposure to stressful life events, more than 30% of people feel nervous or upset (39.8%), scared (33.4%), helpless (32.6%), and about 10% have headaches (15.5%), rapid heartbeat (13.3%), and dizziness (11.8%). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that students in middle school [OR = 1.29 (1.016, 1.637)], not a student leader [OR = 0.738 (0.618, 0.881)], and their parents in single marital status significantly predicted higher PTSD prevalence the remarried [OR = 0.474 (0.252, 0.893)], married [OR = 0.42 (0.227, 0.778)].ConclusionThe present study suggests the government to train psychological counselors in schools and communities to provide emotional and psychological support, as well as the school leaders and parents to elevate adolescents' psychological suzhi. Particularly, counseling and professional support should be given to those students whose parents are single.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Yuan, Li, Liu, Guo, Li, Xu, Li, Sun, Wang, Yang, Zhang, Hua, Lei and Zhang.