University Violence in Jordan: PTSD Consequences

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between witnessing university violence and developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among university students. A total of 885 students from Hashemite University participated in the study. A self-administrated questionnaire and the PTSD Interview Schedule were distributed. The study revealed a low to moderate prevalence of PTSD symptomatology among the study sample; there were significant differences in PTSD prevalence based on faculty type, personal traumatic history, living situation, injuries resulting from university violence, students' violence involvement, and short duration of witnessing violence. There were no statistical differences in PTSD prevalence based on gender and type of degree.

KEYWORDS:

• university students
• violence
• Jordanian universities
• PTSD

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mahmoud Michael Rock (Perth, Western Australia), who kindly provided editing assistance. We gratefully acknowledge Hashemite University students for their participation in this study.

Notes

^a Short: less than 1 month; moderate: 1 month to 6 months; long: more than 6 months.

Note. df = 883. Gender: male (n = 398), female (n = 487); degree: undergraduate (n = 748), graduate (n = 137); faculty: humanitarian (n = 559), scientific (n = 326); personal traumatic history: traumatic history (n = 531), no traumatic history (n = 354); living situation: living with family (n = 731), living alone (n = 154); injuries resulting from USV: injured (n = 69), not injured (n = 816); violence involvement: involved (n = 100), not involved (n = 785).

Note. Wilks's lambda: .813; f = 31.976, p = .00; hypothesis df: 6; error df: 1760. Scheffe post hoc results: short vs. moderate duration, p= −1.18; short vs. long duration, p= −1.26; moderate vs. long duration, p = 0.08. Total means and SDs: short, 8.07 and 1.329; moderate, 3.53 and 2.468; long, 4.25 and 1.706.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jalal K. Damra

Jalal K. Damra is an assistant professor in the Educational Psychology Department, Hashemite University. Damra is a qualified and authorized counselor who specializes in working with all areas of the trauma spectrum (e.g., refugees, child abuse, torture survival).

Thaer A. Ghbari

Thaer A. Ghbari is an assistant professor in the Educational Psychology Department, Hashemite University. Ghbari's research interests include cognitive development and educational psychology.