The consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression on the daily lives of students in public schools in Morocco

Streszczenie

Introduction: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is related to trauma and stress; this disorder can affect anyone after having experienced a stressful traumatic event. The survey was conducted to assess the prevalence of PTSD among adolescents of public high schools in the city of Sale in Morocco and to study the level of anxiety and depression, which present the most associated disorders of PTSD.

Materials and methods: Twelve schools randomly selected from 41 schools and 600 students selected using the cross-sectional survey. The ages of the students were between 12 and 17 years. 82% of students who accepted to participate in the study. Validated questionnaires (socio-demographic data, list of life events, CPTS-RI, STAIY, and CDI) were used and completed by the students for this survey, which was carried out during the period from March to June 2018.

Results: Given the specificity of students characterised by poverty, psychology of adolescence, and low level of parental education, we found a 42.7% prevalence of PTSD, with a higher percentage of this disorder in girls (71.6%) than in boys (28.4%) (p < 0.001), and this prevalence was measured to find out those who were more likely to develop PTSD. For PTSD co-morbidities among adolescents, 91.3% were found to have anxiety and 66.6% to have depression.

Conclusions: With the important prevalence of PTSD in school-aged adolescents, the negative impact of this disorder can be significant on the well-being of these adolescents. There are practical implications for supporting and healing adolescents with this disorder.