The post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression among adolescents of public high schools: a cross-sectional study

Introduction : Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is related to trauma and stress; this disorder can affect anyone after having experienced a stressful traumatic event. The survey was conducted to assess the prevalence of PTSD among adolescents of public high schools in the city of Sale in Morocco and to study the level of anxiety and depression, which present the most associated disorders of PTSD. Materials and methods: Twelve schools randomly selected from 41 schools and 600 students selected using the cross-sectional survey. The age of the students were between 12 and 17 years. The percentage was 82% of students who accepted to participate in the study. The validated questionnaires (socio-demographic data, list of life events, CPTS-RI, STAIY and CDI) used and completed by the students for this survey which carried out during the period from March to June 2018. Results: Given the specificity of students characterized by poverty, psychology of adolescence and low level of parental education; we found 42.7% of prevalence of PTSD; a higher percentage of this disorder in girls with 71.6% than in boys with 28.4% (p < 0.001) and this prevalence done to find out those who had more likely to develop PTSD. While for PTSD co-morbidities among adolescents, 91.3% were found to have anxiety and 66.6% to have depression. Conclusions: With the important prevalence of PTSD in school-aged adolescents, the negative impact of this disorder can be significant on the well-being of these adolescents. There are practical implications for supporting and healing these adolescents with this disorder.