Trauma Exposure and Hopelessness as Predictors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression among War Veterans in South-East Nigeria.

Authors : Sunday Ejikeme Nwoye

Pages : 147-155

Doi:10.35365/ctjpp.24.2.05

View : 69 | Download : 88

Publication Date : 2024-06-27

Article Type : Review Paper

Abstract :This study investigates trauma exposure and hopelessness as predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among war veterans in South-Eastern Nigeria. The research design employed was an ex post facto purposely for a sample of 470 retired military veterans who were involved in the battlefield at different times. The sample consisted of 240 males and 230 females who responded to four standardized instruments. The sample for the study was determined through Taro Yamen’s statistical method for a multinomial or heterogeneous population. Results show that exposure to trauma significantly predicts PTSD among military veterans in Southeast Nigeria (F (1,468) =38.88; P<0.01). However, trauma exposure did not significantly predict the development of depression disorder among veterans in Southeast Nigeria (F (1,468) =0.302; P=0.583). Hopelessness was found to be a statistically significant predictor of PTSD (F (1,468) =10.87; P<0.01). However, it did not significantly predict the development of depression disorder among the veterans F (1,468) =0.239; P=0.625) with R=0.023 and R2=0.001. The findings generally support most of the extant empirical pieces of evidence available in the literature. Based on the outcome of the study, it is essentially reasonably important for the military organization and the Nigerian government should put in place a strategic healthcare initiative to build military veterans’ rehabilitation health centers in each State. In these centers, both serving and retired veterans will be accessing routine psychological assessment, and treatment to ensure that are in a good state of health and well-being during and after engagement from the battlefield.
Keywords : Ek Hastalik, Depresyon, Travmaya Maruz Kalma, Umutsuzluk, Nijerya, Travma Sonrasi Stres Bozuklugu, Guneydogu, Gaziler