Prevalence of Trauma Among Young Adults Exposed to Stressful Events of Armed Conflicts in South Asia: Experiences From Kashmir

Objective: There is dearth of studies regarding the exposure of traumatic conflicts in Kashmir, India, because of limited research undertaken in this area. Therefore, the main intent of this study was to estimate the prevalence of trauma among young adults exposed to violent and stressful events of armed conflict. Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on the prevalence of trauma in all the 10 districts of Kashmir Valley using multistage sampling technique. Data were collected from 693 students by means of the Demographic Information Questionnaire and Kashmir Conflict Exposure Checklist (KCEC). Results: Findings revealed that one third of the respondents were exposed to high traumatic exposure (33.3%), close to quarter of the participants reported extremely high traumatic exposure (23.7%), over one third of the respondents were exposed to moderate traumatic exposure (33.5%), and about one tenth of the sample were exposed to low traumatic exposure (9.5%) in the context of the Kashmir conflict. The prevalence of trauma was 100% in both males and females. The traumatic events with highest rate of prevalence were "feeling stressed" (97.3%), followed by "fear of search operations, crackdowns or curfews" (89.2%); "witnessing a protest or being part of it" (88.3%); "a family member, relative or friend being hit with a bullet, pellet, or any other explosive" (76.5%); and "exposure to violent media portrayals" (74.3%). Thirteen of 17 traumatic events were significantly associated with gender wherein males reported significantly higher prevalence in all of these events than females, except one. Conclusions: The findings of the current study revealed a very disturbing picture regarding the prevalence of traumatic experience of Kashmiri young adults and recommends that educational institutions and nongovernment organizations in Kashmir should pay attention toward guiding the young adults of Kashmir in the right direction for their growth, safety, and welfare, in addition to providing mental health support services, to enhance psychological competence, prevent the development of psychiatric disorders, and utilize the potentials of youth for nation building. Clinical Impact Statement In a longstanding conflict, trauma is an evitable part of life and plays a key role in the development of various psychiatric disorders. Mental health professionals should focus on the treatment of pathogenic consequences of trauma such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, somatization, and so forth. In addition, salutogenic consequences of trauma like posttraumatic growth and resilience should be taken into consideration to help the exposed population withstand in the face of traumatic exposure of armed conflicts.