Table 1.
Socio-demographic characteristics, war exposures, and mental health outcomes of the full sample by gender
| Full Sample (N=273) | Males (N=194) | Females (N=79) | P Value1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-Demographic Characteristic | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | |
| Age at interview, y | 16.55 (2.61) | 16.69 (2.65) | 16.19 (2.48) | 0.16 |
| Age of abduction, y | 10.60 (2.87) | 10.68 (2.86) | 10.39 (2.89) | 0.47 |
| Years with armed forces, y | 2.69 (2.18) | 2.80 (2.28) | 2.38 (1.88) | 0.18 |
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Research group | <0.0001 | |||
| ICC reintegrated | 146 (53) | 131 (68) | 15 (19) | |
| Self-reintegrated | 127 (47) | 63 (32) | 64 (81) | |
| Religion | 0.60 | |||
| Christian | 128 (47) | 89 (46) | 39 (49) | |
| Muslim | 145 (53) | 105 (54) | 40 (51) | |
| Literacy | <0.0001 | |||
| Poor | 24 (10) | 8 (5) | 16 (25) | |
| Basic | 130 (55) | 95 (55) | 35 (56) | |
| Moderate | 57 (24) | 49 (28) | 8 (13) | |
| Excellent | 24 (10) | 20 (12) | 4 (6) | |
| Caregiver Now | 0.81 | |||
| Natural mother, father, or both | 152 (56) | 110 (57) | 42 (53) | |
| Siblings | 21 (8) | 16 (8) | 5 (6) | |
| Extended Family | 65 (24) | 41 (21) | 24 (30) | |
| Other Family (Foster, step etc.) | 24 (9) | 18 (9) | 6 (8) | |
| In school at time of interview | 210 (79) | 162 (85) | 48 (63) | <0.0001 |
| War Exposure | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| Witnessing of violence | ||||
| Witnessed intimidation, beating or torture, No (%) | 180 (66%) | 129 (66%) | 51 (65%) | 0.76 |
| Witnessed violent physical injury | 116 (42%) | 79 (41%) | 37 (47%) | 0.35 |
| Witnessed violent death | 163 (60%) | 116 (60%) | 47 (59%) | 0.96 |
| Witnessed rape | 65 (24%) | 37 (19%) | 28 (35%) | 0.004 |
| Witnessed bomb/grenade explosion at a close distance | 180 (66%) | 123 (63%) | 57 (72%) | 0.17 |
| Witnessed stabbing, chopping at a close distance | 109 (40%) | 70 (36%) | 39 (49%) | 0.04 |
| Witnessed shooting at a close distance | 194 (71%) | 130 (67%) | 64 (81%) | 0.02 |
| Witnessed massacre of many people at once | 132 (48%) | 91 (47%) | 41 (52%) | 0.45 |
| Witnessed raid of school | 43 (16%) | 28 (14%) | 15 (19%) | 0.35 |
| Witnessed raid of homes | 87 (32%) | 53 (27%) | 34 (43%) | 0.01 |
| Witnessed raid of villages | 156 (57%) | 109 (56%) | 47 (59%) | 0.62 |
| Witnessed amputation | 95 (35%) | 62 (32%) | 33 (42%) | 0.12 |
| Witnessed indiscriminate firing | 170 (62%) | 122 (63%) | 48 (61%) | 0.74 |
| RUF-Related Abuse | ||||
| Being in detention | 92 (34%) | 64 (33%) | 28 (35%) | 0.70 |
| eing chased by armed forces | 122 (45%) | 88 (45%) | 34 (43%) | 0.73 |
| Being kidnapped by armed forces | 137 (50%) | 94 (48%) | 43 (54%) | 0.37 |
| Being arrested by armed forces | 144 (53%) | 100 (52%) | 44 (56%) | 0.53 |
| Recruited and trained by armed forces | 86 (38%) | 65 (42%) | 21 (28%) | 0.03 |
| Being beaten by armed forces | 160 (59%) | 112 (58%) | 48 (61%) | 0.65 |
| Being threatened to be killed | 171 (63%) | 120 (62%) | 51 (65%) | 0.68 |
| Being stabbed or chopped | 22 (8%) | 12 (6%) | 10 (13%) | 0.07 |
| Being shot | 45 (17%) | 32 (16%) | 13 (16%) | 0.99 |
| Being without food for 2 days | 222 (81%) | 157 (81%) | 65 (82%) | 0.80 |
| Being without water for 2 days | 79 (29%) | 46 (24%) | 33 (42%) | 0.003 |
| Being without clothes/shoes for 2 days | 211 (77%) | 144 (74%) | 67 (85%) | 0.06 |
| Forced to take drugs | 93 (34%) | 67 (35%) | 26 (33%) | 0.80 |
| Killing of others | 80 (29%) | 57 (29%) | 23 (29%) | 0.96 |
| Raped/sexually abused by armed forces | 44 (16%) | 9 (5%) | 35 (44%) | <0.0001 |
| Lost mother or father during the war | 75 (27%) | 45 (23%) | 30 (38%) | 0.01 |
| Mental Health Outcome | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) [95% CI] | Mean (SD) [95% CI] | |
| HSCL Anxiety | 20.55 (6.54) | 19.58 (6.65) [18.62 – 20.53] | 22.90 (5.64) [21.63 – 24.17] | 0.0001 |
| HSCL Depression | 30.59 (9.11) | 29.64 (9.22) [28.31 – 30.97] | 32.92 (8.45) [31.00 – 34.84] | 0.008 |
| Hostility | 21.02 (6.05) | 20.49 (6.35) [19.58 – 21.40] | 22.32 (5.06) [21.18 – 23.47] | 0.01 |
| Confidence | 24.02 (4.20) | 24.66 (3.96) [24.10 – 25.23] | 22.37 (4.37) [21.37 – 23.38] | <.0001 |
| Prosocial Attitude | 33.11 (4.88) | 33.75 (4.48) [33.10 – 34.39] | 31.59 (5.47) [30.36 – 32.82] | 0.003 |
1
T-tests used to evaluate mean differences between male and female participants for continuous variables and χ2 used for categorical data.