title: Traumatic events and depressive symptoms among youth in Southwest Nigeria: a qualitative analysis.
abstract: Traumatic experiences have dire consequences for the mental health of young persons. Despite high rates of traumatic experiences in some African cities, there are no reports for Nigerian youth.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the pattern of traumatic events and their association with depressive symptoms among youth in Southwest Nigeria.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive cross-sectional study of randomly selected youth in urban and rural schools in Southwest Nigeria. They completed self-reports on traumatic events and depressive symptoms using the Street Children's Project Questionnaire and the Youth DISC Predictive Scale (DPS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1,768 responses (88.4% response rate) entered into the analysis, 34% reported experiencing a traumatic situation. Following interpretative phenomenological analysis, 13 themes emerged. Frequently occurring traumatic events were 'road traffic accidents' (33.0%), 'sickness' (17.1%), 'lost or trapped' (11.2%) and 'armed robbery attack' (9.7%). A bad dream was described by 3.7%. Traumatic experiences were commoner in males (36.2%) than in females (31.6%) (x2 = 4.2; p = .041). Experiencing a traumatic event was associated with depressive symptoms (X2 = 37.98; p < .001), especially when the event directly affected the youth as in sexual assault or physical abuse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One-third of youth in Southwest Nigeria have described an experienced traumatic event. Road traffic accidents, armed robbery attacks, and communal disturbances depict the prevailing social environment, whereas 'bad dreams' revealed the influence of cultural beliefs. Policy makers must be aware of the social issues making an impact on the health of youth. Multi-agency interventions to improve the social environment and provide mental health services for traumatized young people are essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria. fouryinkas@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Olayinka
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Omigbodun
authors.forename: Kofoworola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bakare
authors.forename: Bidemi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yusuf
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult