International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue IX, September 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Mental Health Comorbidities of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Sexually Abused Adolescents
Jonah, Austin Thankgod (Ph.D)
Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling Faculty of Education, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt. Rivers State, Nigeria
Abstract: The study investigated mental health comorbidities of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among sexually abused adolescents in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The study used the correlational research design. Three research questions as well as three corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised all 14,784 senior secondary school students (SSS 1, 2 and 3) in the 16 public secondary schools in Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers State. A sample of 528 adolescents was drawn for the study using the purposive sampling technique. Four instruments were used to collect data for this study. They include; Post-traumatic stress disorder index (PTSDI), Anxiety Scale (AS), Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) and Insomnia Inventory (II). The instruments were designed on a four point Likert scale of Strongly Agree (SA) =4, Agree (A) =3, Disagree (D) =2, and Strongly Disagree (SD) =1. The Cronbach Alpha reliability was used to establish the internal consistency reliability coefficients of 0.77, 0.97 and 0.69 respectively. Responses to the research questions were answered with Pearson Product Moment Correlation, while the hypotheses were tested with independent sample t-test statistics. The findings of the study showed that social anxiety disorder, depression and insomnia relate significantly to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among sexually abused adolescents in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that, a trauma-focused cognitive bahavioural therapy (TF-CBT) should be carried out on adolescents who are sexually abused victims to identify and correct any opposing thoughts or misrepresentations they have about the traumatic event.
Keywords: Social Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Insomnia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Sexual Abuse
I. INTRODUCTION
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behaviour by one person or group of persons upon another (American Psychological Association, 2018). It is any action that pressures or coerces someone to do something sexually without the person’s consent (Moscarello cited in Adnan, Sümeyra, Sait, Cem & Mustafa, 2015). It can also be referred to behaviour that affects a person’s ability to control their sexual activity or the circumstances in which sexual activity occurs. Examples of sexual abuse include; unwanted kissing or touching, either directly or over the clothing of a person’s intimate body parts, rape or attempted rape, refusing to use condoms or restricting someone’s access to birth control during sex, sexual contact with someone very drunk, drugged, unconscious or otherwise unable to give a clear and informed yes or no to sexual activity and threatening or