Post-Traumatic Stress and Depression among Internally Displaced Persons in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Adamawa state is one of the states affected by insurgency, banditry, herdsmen and natural disasters such as flood, sound storm and tornados in the Northern region. These have led to displacement of many of the indigenes and could have consequently taken tolls on their mental health. The study thus investigated Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) and depression among internally displaced persons in Adamawa state, Nigeria. The relationship between the four components of PTS (intrusion, avoidance, alterations in cognition and mood; and alteration in arousal and reactivity) and depression were examined. Based on the 213,467 population of IDPs in Adamawa State (International Organization for Migration, 2020); 396 IDPs participated in the study. The respondents were selected using random and purposive sampling techniques across the three senatorial districts of the state. The PTSD and Depression questionnaires were used to collect data in the study. Two mental health counsellors and three medical experts checked the content validity of the instruments. The reliability indices obtained for the two questionnaires were 0.88 and 0.91 respectively. At the end of the data collection exercise, 388 responses were valid for data analysis. The data were analyzed using percentages and Pearson’s (r) statistics. The findings of the study revealed that post-traumatic stress and depression are high among the IDPs in Adamawa State. Also, there is positive relationship between the four dimensions (intrusion, avoidance, cognition and mood alteration; and arousal and reactivity symptoms) of PTS and depression (p = 0.000 < 0.05). In line with these findings, relevant recommendations were made