Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicidal ideation among school going adolescents in St. Charles Lwanga College School, Koboko

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to explore the strength and direction of relationships among PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideation in a cohort of secondary school students and the secondary goal involved identifying how these psychological variables co‐occur and contribute to elevated suicide risk. A qualitative research design underpinned the study, enriched by quantitative measurement through Pearson correlation analysis. One hundred students, aged 12 to 18 years, were randomly selected to ensure representativeness across grade levels and gender. Standardized assessment tools captured symptom severity for PTSD, depression and suicidal ideation. Data collection adhered to ethical protocols, including informed consent, confidentiality, and the provision of on-site counselling for participants in distress. The first hypothesis results revealed that Post – traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is significantly related to suicide ideation among the school going adolescents (r = 0.540, P (.001 < 0.05) hence concluding that there is a significant relationship between Post – traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide ideation. The second hypothesis results show no significant relationship (r = 0.620, P (0.200 > .05) between Post – traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among school going adolescents. This implies that higher levels of Post – traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms may not be associated with more severe depressive symptoms. The third hypothesis reveals that there is no significant relationship (r = 0.680, P = 0.285 > .05). between depression and suicidal ideation among the school going adolescents. This implies that depression levels may not be associated with suicidal ideation among school going adolescents. These findings prioritize Post traumatic stress disorder screening and trauma informed interventions in school mental health services to effectively reduce suicidal risk. Future longitudinal research should explore causal pathways and assess the efficacy of targeted trauma focused therapies in alleviating suicidal ideation among adolescents.