Journals › Sri Lanka Journal of Psychiatry
Posttraumatic stress disorder among adolescents exposed to the ammunition depot blast at Salawa, Sri Lanka – a descriptive study
Sri Lanka Journal of Psychiatry 8(2): 9–13 · 2017
https://doi.org/10.4038/sljpsyc.v8i2.8154
Abstract
BackgroundBeyond the immediate physical consequences of the disaster, trauma exposure may cause lasting mental health problems especially in young people. AimThe objective of this study was to investigate the trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and the association between trauma exposure and PTSS among the adolescents in Salawa area, who were exposed to the explosion that took place on 5th June 2016 at the ammunition dump of Salawa army camp. MethodologyA cross sectional study was conducted eight months after the explosion, among all adolescents in the Salawa ammunition dump area. A self-administered screening instrument was used to assess the nature of the exposure to the blast. The University of California at Los Angeles Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD-RI) was used to measure the cumulative trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms. ResultsA total of 108 adolescents (68.4% females), with a mean age of 14.3 (SD=2.12) were included in the survey. Diagnostic criterion for full and partial PTSD was met by 34.2% and 37.0% of the participants, respectively. The occurrence of PTSD was significantly associated with the severity of the ammunition blast (b=3.31, p
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