Citation

Taukeni S, Chitiyo G, Chitiyo M, Asino I, Shipena G. Jamba 2016; 8(2): e169.

Affiliation

Office of Student Affairs, University of Namibia, Namibia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, African Centre for Disaster Studies, North-West University)

DOI

10.4102/jamba.v8i2.169

PMID

29955304

PMCID

PMC6014025

Abstract

Extreme flooding in the northern parts of Namibia occurred in 2011, impacting many school-going children in the region. The rationale for the current research is to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on school children as a result of the floods. A self-administered Child Trauma Screening Questionnaire (CTSQ) with closed-ended questions was administered to 480 children between the ages of eight and 18 years at their respective schools. The CTSQ consists of five items assessing re-experiencing and five items assessing hyper-arousal symptoms. The results show that 55.2% of learners aged 12 and below and 72.8% of learners aged 13 and above reported experiencing symptoms of trauma from the floods 2 years after the event. These percentages were quite high and are therefore a cause for concern. Given the magnitude of this problem, it is important for the government and other stakeholders to provide the necessary psychological and/or emotional support in the event of future floods or similar disasters.

Language: en