Post-traumatic stress among adolescents: an exploratory study with LASC (Los Angeles Symptom Checklist)

Post-traumatic stress among adolescents: an exploratory study with LASC (Los Angeles Symptom Checklist) Pedro Mujo Silva1, Cristina Queirós2, Miguel Cameira2 & António Marques3 1 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal 2 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory of Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal 3 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory of School of Allied Health Sciences, Porto Polytechnic Institute, Portugal 1. Introduction 3. Material and Methods 2. Objetives 4. Results and Discussion / Results (cont.) 5. Conclusion 6. References Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) becomes a concern for researchers, seeking its causes, risk factors and symptoms (CookCottone, 2004; Eth, 2001). Among adolescents, adverse situations and critical incidents can occur, frequently related with family problems, violence, drug abuse, bullying. Sometimes risk factors for trauma happened simultaneously, eliciting more severe consequences (Poletto et al., 2009). The study of this pathology in adolescence is scarce, with few instruments for its diagnosis and mental health evaluation specifically developed for adolescents (Hawkins & Radcliffe, 2006). The Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC, Foy et al., 1997) was developed to assess PTSD among adolescents during community violence or war, being easily to use. To present an exploratory study focused on the adaptation of Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC, Foy et al., 1997) among adolescents. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC, Foy et al., 1997) and the EADS (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995; PaisRibeiro et al., 2004) were used to assess respectively trauma, anxiety/depression/stress. They were applied on printed form to 695 students of Porto, who anonymously participated, after formal authorization from a school situated on an area considered as dangerous due to drug traffic, juvenile delinquency and family violence. Age varies between 10-16 years (Mean= 12,9 years and SD=1,933) and 54% were female. 15 to 20% were from 5 to 8th grade, 13% were from 9th grade and 13% were from 10-11th grade. 63% didn’t failed during school progression years and 95% lived with nuclear family (parents, sister/brothers and grandparents). Only 5% lived with other parents such sisters, uncles, grandparents due the fact that their parents are in prison from drug crimes. 4. Results and Discussion / Results Low presence of severe PTSD(15%), partial PTSD (18%) and stress/anxiety/depression was found (Figure 1), with older students presenting more depression, stress and PTSD, and females presenting more anxiety, stress, depression and PTSD (Table 1 and 2). A positive correlation between anxiety and depression among individuals revealing PTSD was found (Table 2). LASC presents good alphas (Table 3) but exploratory factorial analysis shows, like the original version, a concentration on the first factor, not well discriminating the symptoms of intrusion, avoidance and hyperarousal (Table 4). Despite adequate psychometric properties of LASC, more data are need to adapt this scale to Portuguese reality, since it can be useful to identify early symptoms of PTSD, that tend to increase due society tragic incidents such as violence scenarios, bullying, road accidents, drug crimes, etc. Online LASC format will allow to better identify PTSD and regular evaluation using new health technologies. As soon as trauma symptoms are identified, a better intervention can be prepared, allowing victims to recover from trauma and it negative impact. - Cook-Cottone, C. (2004). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder: diagnosis, treatment, and school reintegration. School Psychology Review, 33(1),127-139. - Eth, S. (2001). PTSD in children and adolescents. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing. - Foy, D.W., Wood, J., King, D., King, L. & Resnick, H. (1997). Los Angeles Symptom Checklist: Psychometric evidence with an adolescent sample. Assessment, 4(4), 377384. - Kristensen, C.H., Schaefer, L. S. & Busnello, F.B. (2010). Estratégias de coping e sintomas de stress na adolescência. Estudos de Psicologia,27(1),21-30. - Lovibond, P., & Lovibond, S. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(3), 335-343. - Pais-Ribeiro, J., Honrado, A. & Leal, I (2004). Contribuição para o Estudo da Adaptação Portuguesa das Escalas de Ansiedade, Depressão e Stress (EADS) de 21 Itens de Lovibond e Lovibond. Psicologia Saúde & Doenças, 5(2), 229-239. - Poletto, M., Koller, S. H. & Dell’Aglio, D. D. (2009). Eventos estressores em crianças e adolescentes em situação de vulnerabilidade social de Porto Alegre. Ciência e Saúde Coletiva, 14(2), 455-466. 18% 15% 67% Partial Total No trauma 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% PTSD Intrusion Avoidance Hyperarousal Mean Diference to maximum Figure 1. Presence of trauma, anxiety, depression and stress 0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 Anxiety Depression Stress pedr[email protected]; cqueir[email protected].pt