Posttraumatic stress symptoms and structure among orphan and vulnerable children and adolescents in Zambia

Background: Scant information exists on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and structure in youth from developing countries.

Methods: We describe the symptom profile and exposure to trauma experiences among 343 orphan and vulnerable children and adolescents from Zambia. We distinguished profiles of posttraumatic stress symptoms using latent class analysis.

Results: Average number of trauma-related symptoms (21.6; range 0-38) was similar across sex and age. Latent class model suggested three classes varying by level of severity: low (31% of the sample), medium (45% of the sample), and high (24% of the sample) symptomatology.

Conclusions: Results suggest that PTSD is a continuously distributed latent trait.