An investigation into the relationship between exposure to violence, resilience and PTSD in a sample of psychology students at the University of the Western Cape
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Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Post-apartheid South Africa has been marked by high levels of trauma resulting from
exposure to violence. Many South Africans are therefore at risk for developing Posttraumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD). Despite a large body of research identifying various protective
factors which may influence an individual's response to a traumatic event, a gap in South
African research on the relationship between exposure to multiple traumatic experiences,
protective factors and the development of PTSD was identified. Therefore, located within the
systems theory framework, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between
demographic characteristics, types of exposure to trauma and resilience associated with the
development of posttraumatic stress (PTS) when there are multiple exposures to trauma. A
quantitative, cross-sectional, exploratory study on 158 psychology students at the University
of the Western Cape was undertaken. Using a non-random, convenience sampling method,
data were collected by means of four self-report questionnaires namely; a biographical
questionnaire, the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5), the Resilience Scale for Adults
(RSA), and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
Description
Magister Artium - MA (Psychology)
Keywords
PTSD; trauma; exposure; resilience; protective factors; ecological systems theory; South Africa; exploratory study; violence; risk