Posttraumatic stress disorder among secondary school students during the COVID-19 lockdown in Enugu

Abstract

Background: School closure, lockdown, loss of jobs, and harsh economic situation during the COVID‑19 are linked with a high risk of posttraumatic stress (PTS) in secondary school students. Studies have shown that in the absence of other coping strategies such as resilience and social support, adolescents and youths may adopt a negative coping style to address PTS disorder (PTSD). Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of PTS among secondary school students and evaluate the impact of social support and resilience on PTS in this group of students, especially during the lockdown. Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional study was conducted among students attending six secondary schools in Enugu. Three standardized questionnaires were used in the data collection. PTS due to COVID‑19 was evaluated with Impact to Event Scale‑6, the Child and Youth Resilience was used to determine the resilience of the students, and the Oslo 3‑item was used to ascertain the level of social support. Data were analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)‑Chicago, Illinois, USA; version 25. Results: Four hundred and ninety‑six students with a mean age of 16.5 ± 1.9 years and M: F of 1:1.1 were studied. The majority of the students (62.9%) had PTS due to the effects of COVID‑19. A large number of students in senior secondary three‑class, 64.8%, experienced PTS due to COVID‑19 compared with their counterparts in junior secondary three class, 54.7%, but the difference in proportions was not statistically significant (χ² = 3.358, P = 0.067). A good number of fathers of the students with secondary education or less (67.6%) experienced PTS due to COVID‑19 when compared with their counterparts who had tertiary education (58.4%) (χ² = 4.497, P = 0.034). Resilience and social support had no influence on PTSD among secondary school students (χ² = 0.381, P = 0.548) (χ² = 0.504, P = 0.777), respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD was high among secondary school students during the lockdown in the COVID‑19 pandemic. Resilience and good social support did not influence this.