RESUMO
To determine the prevalence and predictors of Post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] among children and adolescents in a war zone. Two hundred displaced 10-18 years old school children and adolescents randomly selected from a resettlement camp in Al Geneina City, Western Sudan, were interviewed using a war-related trauma checklist, the Post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic scale [PDS] and the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire [SMFQ]. The 200 students reported 255 and 586 war-related personally experienced and witnessed events respectively. The prevalence of PTSD was 55% with no significant gender difference. Multiple traumatic events were the rule. The strongest predictor of PTSD was exposure to gunfire followed by hearing about sexual assaults. PTSD followed a chronic course in all victims, the onset being within six months after the disaster. The most common PTSD symptom cluster was increased arousal followed by re-experiencing the traumatic events; the least common symptoms were in the domain of avoidance and numbing. Physical complaints dominated the picture in 23.6% and depressive symptoms were present in 87% of the victims. Contrary to media reports traumas of sexual nature were not reported to be personally experienced or witnessed but heard of by 8.5% of the sample in this conservative Muslim society. PTSD is not culture-bound and it transcends age and cultural barriers. An intervention scheme to reduce war-related PTSD symptoms should be adopted to target at-risk groups of children and adolescents in parallel with the freely available nutritional and medical services, otherwise the future psychological wellbeing of this age-group will be bleak