Prevalence of Psychosomatic Symptoms among Traumatized Palestinian Adolescents in the Gaza Strip | Chapter 01 | Perspectives of Arts and Social Studies Vol. 2
Aims:
To estimate the prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms among traumatized
Palestinian adolescents in Gaza Strip.
Methods:
The study sample consisted of 380 adolescents randomly selected from secondary
schools in Gaza Strip, of whom 171 were boys and 209 were girls between 15-18
years. Data was collected using a socio-demographic checklist, the Gaza
Traumatic Events Checklist, and the Psychosomatic Symptoms Scale. For
statistical analysis, questionnaire data was normally distributed, for this
reason independent t-test was used to investigate differences between two
groups. Associations between continuous variables were measured by the
Pearson's correlation coefficient test. One-way ANOVA post hoc Tukey was used
to investigate differences between more than two groups.
Results:
The most common reported traumatic events due to the war on Gaza were: watching
mutilated bodies and wounded people in TV (92.3%), and hearing shelling of the
area by artillery (89.4%). The mean number of traumatic events experienced by
Palestinian adolescents was 14. Boys reported significantly more traumatic
events than girls. Adolescents from family with monthly income less than 150 US
$ experienced more traumatic events than the other groups. Mean psychosomatic
symptoms was 48.19, digestive system symptoms was 19.97, cardiovascular
symptoms was 10.23, respiratory system
symptoms was 3.82, urogenital system symptoms was 2.98, skeletal musculature symptoms was 5.29, and
skin symptoms was 7.34. Boys scored more in total psychosomatic and skin
symptoms. There was a significant relationship between traumatic experiences
and psychosomatic symptoms.
Conclusion:
Palestinian adolescents experienced significant traumatic events due to the war
on Gaza Strip which were significantly associated with developing psychosomatic
symptoms. Such findings highlight the urgent need for establishing community
mental health school based programs to help adolescents with such symptoms and
increase awareness about their nature and management. Also there is need for
conducting training courses for teachers and school counsellors to increase
their knowledge about general mental health problems in schools and ways of
dealing with such problems. Also, training courses for primary care and
hospital physicians, who might attribute to physical causes, and liaison
between physical and mental health services.
Author(s) Details
Thabet Abdelaziz
School of Public Health,
Community Mental Health Department and Child Institute, Al Quds University,
Palestine.
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