XXXX exposure and post-traumatic stress symptoms in urban African schools. Survey in CapeTown and Nairobi.

@entity1 @entity130 @entity1005
BACKGROUND: There is a lack of comparative data on the prevalence and effects of exposure to violence in African youth. AIMS: We assessed @entity130 exposure, post-traumatic stress symptoms and gender differences in adolescents from two African countries. METHOD: A sample of 2041 @entity1 and @entity1 from 18 schools in CapeTown and Nairobi completed anonymous self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: More than 80% reported exposure to severe @entity130 , either as victims or witnesses. Kenyan adolescents, compared with South African, had significantly higher rates of exposure to witnessing violence (69% v. 58%), physical assault by a family member (27% v. 14%) and sexual assault (18% v. 14%). But rates of current full-symptom @entity1005 ( @entity1005 ) (22.2% v. 5%) and current partial-symptom @entity1005 (12% v. 8%) were significantly higher in the South African sample. @entity1 were as likely as @entity1 to meet @entity1005 symptom criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Although the lifetime exposure to @entity130 was comparable across both settings, Kenyan adolescents had much lower rates of @entity1005 . This difference may be attributable to cultural and other @entity130 -related variables. High rates of sexual assault and @entity1005 , traditionally documented in @entity1 , may also occur in @entity1 and warrant further study.
