Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Sexually Abused Children and Educational Status in Kenya: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Children who experience sexual abuse often meet the criteria of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other psychiatric disorders. This article examines Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and their educational status among children who have been sexually abused and its effects on the children’s educational status. The study was carried out between June 2015 and July 2016. The study adopted a longitudinal study design. The study was conducted at Kenyatta National Teaching and Referral Hospital and Nairobi Women’s Hospitals in Kenya. The children who had experienced sexual abuse and their parents/legal guardians were followed up for a period of one year after every four months interval. One hundred and ninety one children who had experienced sexual abuse and their parents/legal guardians were invited to participate in the study. Findings indicate that the children continued to experience PTSD one year after the sexual abuse incidence. PTSD was associated with the length of time taken to receive medical attention (p<0.005). Children with partial PTSD who had experienced sexual abuse were 2 times more likely to perform above average than children with full PTSD, OR=2.1 [95% CI of OR 1.2–3.8], p=0.01. Children who experience sexual abuse have negative mental health outcomes. These outcomes have detrimental effects to the normal development of children and educational status. There is need to screen for PTSD and offer psychosocial support and follow up to children who have been sexual abuse.

Prevalence of Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress, Depression and Anxiety Among Abused and Neglected Adolescents in Charitable Children’s Institutions in Nairobi

“…A longitudinal study conducted in Kenya among 191 children age 7-17 years who had experienced sexual abuse found that at baseline the prevalence of full PTSD was 95.3% [33]. This finding could have been higher than this study because the research was done in the biggest referral hospital in Kenya.…”

Incidence of depressive symptoms among sexually abused children in Kenya

“…This paper was part of a Kenyan longitudinal study on the psychosocial outcomes associated with sexual abuse among children aged 7–17 years who were treated at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the National Teaching and Referral Hospital. The study was also conducted at a specialised private Gender-Based Violence (GBV) hospital, the Nairobi Women’s Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya [ 18 ]. The two are the leading and specialized hospitals in (GBV) in Kenya, based in Nairobi City.…”

“…After a child had been randomly selected to participate in this study after 1-month exposure to the sexual abuse incidence, the parents/legal guardians were approached to give informed consent to participate in this study and assent from the children. The children were put on the standard prophylactic and therapeutic treatments regimes, usually provided at the GBVR centres in both hospitals [ 18 ]. This included Post exposure Prophylaxis (PeP) against HIV and contraceptive prophylaxis (CP), treatment of physical injuries and psychosocial care in the hospitals and or referred to legal services providers.…”

“…A locally designed questionnaire on socio-demographic and sexual abuse profile was administered to the GBV survivors aged 7–17 years. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used for screening depressive symptoms among children aged 16–17 years because adolescents were considered as mature youth in the study and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) was used for screening depressive symptoms in the children aged 7–15.5 years [ 18 ]. On the CDI tool, minimal and mild depressive symptoms were regarded as insignificant and moderate and severe depressive symptoms were regarded as pathological [ 26 ].…”

A systematic review of short and medium-term mental health outcomes in young people following sexual assault

“…Regarding the time of the initial assessment, only Mouilso et al [23] prospectively assessed participants prior to the sexual assault. The other nine assessed participants at various time-frames post assault -within one week (Herbert et al [21]), 12 days (Rothbaum et al [27]), two weeks (Oshodi et al [26]), four weeks (Darves-Barnoz et al [18], Mutavi et al, 2017 [24], Mutavi et al, 2018 (majority of participants within one month) [25]), six weeks (Elklit et al [19], Khadr et al [22]) or within a variable timeframe (46% of the sample within 8-10 weeks post-assault (Feiring et al [20]).…”