Mental Health among Former Child Soldiers and Never-Abducted Children in Northern Uganda
Table 1
Sociodemographic characteristics and war-related traumatic experiences of former child soldiers and children never abducted by the Lord's Resistance Armya.
Characteristics
Total
Former Child
Never Abducted
-Valueb
Soldiers
Children
()
()
()
Sex
.48
Boys
122 (52.1)
72 (54.1)
50 (49.5)
Girls
112 (47.9)
61 (45.9)
51 (50.5)
Age, mean (SD) [range], y
16.7 (1.2) [14–18]
16.8 (1.2) [14–18]
16.6 (1.3) [14–18]
.31
Living arrangement
.004
Camp for IDPs
162 (69.2)
104 (84.6)
58 (65.2)
Home
41 (17.5)
16 (13.0)
25 (28.1)
Other
9 (3.8)
3 (2.4)
6 (6.7)
Father alive
<.001
Yes
172 (73.5)
20 (15.3)
36 (37.1)
No
56 (23.9)
111 (84.7)
61 (62.9)
Mother alive
<.001
Yes
119 (50.9)
51 (38.9)
60 (60.6)
No
111 (47.4)
80 (61.1)
39 (39.4)
OR (95% CI)c
Traumatic experience
Having to carry heavy loads
170 (72.6)
127 (96.2)
43 (42.6)
35.04 (13.10–93.71)
Being seriously beaten
133 (56.8)
102 (77.9)
31 (30.7)
8.24 (4.50–15.08)
Getting injured
158 (67.5)
106 (79.7)
52 (51.5)
3.67 (2.06–6.53)
Witnessing someone being killed
121 (51.7)
90 (69.2)
31 (30.7)
5.08 (2.89–8.92)
Killing someone personally
68 (29.1)
61 (46.6)
7 (6.9)
11.67 (5.03–27.06)
Having to drink urine
77 (32.9)
67 (51.1)
10 (9.9)
9.67 (4.61–20.27)
Having to loot properties
129 (55.1)
106 (80.9)
23 (23.0)
14.16 (7.46–26.86)
Having to punish other children
117 (50.0)
101 (75.9)
16 (15.8)
16.96 (8.66–33.18)
Having to fight
232 (92.1)
100 (75.8)
22 (22.0)
11.35 (6.06–21.28)
Being forced to engage in sexual contact
79 (33.8)
60 (45.1)
19 (19.0)
3.67 (1.99–6.78)
Abbreviations: OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; IDP: internally displaced persons.
aData are expressed as No. (%) of respondents unless otherwise indicated. Sample sizes vary because of item-level missing data.
bCalculated by χ 2 test or t test.
cOdds ratios are from logistic regression models with child soldier status and sex as independent variables and traumatic exposure as the dependent variable.
