School Absenteeism and other Factors Associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Adolescents Living and Attending Primary Schools in Informal Settlements in Kajiado North sub-county, Kenya.

Preskilla Ochieng-Munda, Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology; Alice Munene, Psy.D., Daystar University; & Stella Kemuma Nyagwencha, Ph.D., United States International University-Africa

Abstract

Living in informal settlements has been found to be replete with multiple traumatic events, which may lead to the development of psychological disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This may in turn result to skipping school, social, emotional and academic problems. The purpose of this study was to determine how school absenteeism and other factors are related to PTSD among adolescents in informal settlements in Kajiado County, Kenya. Respondents aged 10 to 14 years in grades 5, 6, and 7 from two purposively selected primary schools in Ngong who scored 31and above in the PTSD instrument, were included in the study. They were screened using the Child PTSD Symptom Scale self-report (CPSS-SR-5), and then a socio-demographic questionnaire was administered with only 194 respondents completing the study. School attendance was extracted from registers maintained by the grade teachers. Analyses of data revealed mean PTSD scores for males (n = 90) as 42.02: 95% CI [40.18 - 43.91], and 45.56: 95% CI [43.61- 47.50] for females (n = 104); [F (1,192) = 6.577, p = 0.011]. Those who had experienced physical violence (n =121) had a mean PTSD score of 45.40: 95% CI [43.65 – 47.16], while those who had not (n = 71), had 41.48: 95% CI [39.37 – 43.59]; [F (1,192) = 7.796, p= 0.006]. PTSD was found to predict absenteeism [(F (1,192) = 31.096, p < 0.001), Absenteeism = -2.160 + 0.090 (PTSD), p < 0.001]. Gender and physical violence were found to be significantly associated with PTSD whereas absenteeism was found to be predicted by PTSD. There is therefore need for interventions that can equip adolescents with coping skills that would cushion them from developing PTSD despite the traumatic experiences they go through.

Keywords: Absenteeism and PTSD, gender and PTSD, physical violence and PTSD, adolescents and PTSD, PTSD in informal settlements, PTSD in Kajiado.