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Trauma nation: Exposure to traumatic events among South African university students
Author(s) -
Padmanabhanunni Anita
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22377
Subject(s) - medicine , disadvantaged , mental health , logistic regression , demography , population , occupational safety and health , poison control , checklist , psychiatry , clinical psychology , psychology , environmental health , pathology , sociology , political science , law , cognitive psychology
The current study investigated exposure to past trauma among South African students at a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI). The student population at HDI's are typically from low‐income communities that were marginalized by apartheid‐era policies and few studies have focused on trauma exposure among this population group. Respondents ( N =914) completed the Life Events Checklist and a demographic questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify gender differences in exposure. 97.6% of the sample reported trauma exposure. The most frequently experienced traumatic events were physical assault (69.3%) and transportation accidents (64.7%). While men were almost twice as likely to report exposure to physical assault (77.2% vs. 67%; β =.53; odds ratio [OR]=1.70; p <.01) and assault with a weapon (59.7% vs. 44.3%; β =.62; OR=1.86; p <.01), women were twice as likely to report unwanted or uncomfortable sexual experiences (32.3% vs. 19.4%; β =−.69; OR=0.50; p <.01) and sexual assault (19.3% vs. 13.1%; β =−.69; OR=0.50; p <.01). It is recommended that psycho‐education on trauma be included in orientation programmes and mental health screening and early referrals for psychological services be implemented.