Jude Mary Cénat

Cyberbullying, psychological distress and self-esteem among youth in Quebec schools

BACKGROUND The advent of new technologies and social media offers a host of possibilities for teenagers to consolidate social networks. Unfortunately, new technologies also represent a potential setting for experiences of victimization. METHODS The present study explores the prevalence of cyberbullying victimization in a representative sample of 8 194 teenagers in Quebec and the adverse associated consequences. RESULTS Results indicate that 18% of boys and close to 1 out of 4 girls report at least one incident of cyberbullying in the past 12 months. Cyberbullying victimization contributes to the prediction of low selfesteem and psychological distress over and above other experiences of bullying in schools or other settings. CONCLUSIONS Cyberbullying appear as one important target for the design of prevention and intervention services designed for youth.

Assessment of prevalence and determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms in adults survivors of earthquake in Haiti after 30 months

BACKGROUND On January 12, 2010, a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Republic of Haiti and destroyed Port-au-Prince, the capital and others cities across the country. While some studies have examined the long-term traumatic effects of the seismic event on children and adolescents victims, so far no study has examined the consequences on adults generally. As such, this study aims to investigate the traumatic consequences of the earthquake among adults related to degree of exposure, peritraumatic distress, depressive symptoms and sociodemographic factors two and a half years after. In addition, predictive factors of PTSD and depressive symptoms were also identified. METHODS From June to July 2012, a total of 1355 adults (660 women) was assessed by means the traumatic exposure questionnaire, the Life Events Checklist subscale, the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI), the Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), in addition to social demographic characteristics. RESULTS The prevalence rates of PTSD and depressive symptoms were 36.75% (498 cases) and 25.98% (352 cases) respectively. The risk factors for PTSD and depressive symptoms were young and old age, female gender, unemployed status and low level of education. The bests predictives variables were peritraumatic distress for PTSD (β=.57, p<.0001) and for depressive symptoms (β=.21, p<.0001). The commorbidity between PTSD and depression was 13.36%. CONCLUSIONS This study found that psychological symptoms are frequent event 30 months after the earthquake. The different mental health care providers, the public health ministry, NGOs working on the ground in Haiti should design programmes in order to aid the psychological wellbeing of the population focussing on youth, older and retired adults, females, people with low levels of education and those who do not work.

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES AMONG CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SURVIVORS OF THE 2010 HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE

We examined the prevalence and predictive factors of PTSD and depression in relation with peritraumatic distress, trauma exposure, and sociodemographic characteristics among children and adolescent who survived the 2010 Haitis earthquake.

Correlates of bullying in Quebec high school students: the vulnerability of sexual-minority youth

PURPOSE Bullying has become a significant public health issue, particularly among youth. This study documents cyberbullying, homophobic bullying and bullying at school or elsewhere and their correlates among both heterosexual and sexual-minority high school students in Quebec (Canada). METHOD A representative sample of 8194 students aged 14-20 years was recruited in Quebec (Canada) high schools. We assessed cyberbullying, homophobic bullying and bullying at school or elsewhere in the past 12 months and their association with current self-esteem and psychological distress as well as suicidal ideations. RESULTS Bullying at school or elsewhere was the most common form of bullying (26.1%), followed by cyberbullying (22.9%) and homophobic bullying (3.6%). Overall, girls and sexual-minority youth were more likely to experience cyberbullying and other forms of bullying as well as psychological distress, low self-esteem and suicidal ideations. The three forms of bullying were significantly and independently associated with all mental health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The results underscore the relevance of taking into account gender and sexual orientation variations in efforts to prevent bullying experience and its consequences.

Child sexual abuse, bullying, cyberbullying, and mental health problems among high schools students: a moderated mediated model

Child sexual abuse is associated with adverse outcomes, including heightened vulnerability that may translate into risk of revictimization. The aims of the study were: (1) to explore the direct and indirect links between child sexual abuse and cyberbullying, bullying, and mental health problems and (2) to study maternal support as a potential protective factor.

Psychometric properties of the Creole Haitian version of the Resilience Scale amongst child and adolescent survivors of the 2010 earthquake.

Resilience is defined as the capacity of human beings to deal with and adapt to adversity, suffering, tragedy or other traumatic event. This study aims to investigate psychometric properties and the underlying structure of the Creole version of the RS among children and adolescents survivors to the 2010 Haitian earthquake. A total of 872 children and adolescents exposed to the earthquake with an average age of 14.91 (SD=1.94) completed the Creole version of RS, the Impact Event Scale-Revised, the Children Depression Inventory and the Social Support Questionnaire-6. The current validity of RS and the internal consistency were investigated; sex, age, religion and others socio-demographic variables differences were also analysed. Cronbachs alpha coefficient for the RS was .77; the split-half coefficient was .72. The goodness-of-fit for the 5-factor model presents the best adjusted indices. The total resilience score was correlated positively with social support (r=.42, p<.01). Mean score of the RS was 131.46 (SD=21.01). No significant differences were observed about sex, age and residential municipality. The results showed that the Haitian Creole version of RS is a valid and reliable measure in assessing resilience for the children and adolescent survivors to the 2010s earthquake.

Prevalence and determinants of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms in street children survivors of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, four years after

Working with street children and adolescents who lived through the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, this paper aims to assess the prevalence of symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression in relation to peritraumatic distress, and age, and to explore other risk factors and socio-demographic characteristics, four years after the events. Between March and June 2014, with a sample of 128 children and adolescents (120 boys and 8 girls) aged between 7 and 18, of an average age of 13.88 (SD=2.15), all living on the streets of Port-au-Prince, we used the following scales: the Trauma Exposure (TE), the Life Events Subscale of the CAPS; the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI); the Childrens Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) and the Children Depression Inventory (CDI); (BAI). Our study reveals a high prevalence of PTSD, depression and anxiety among street children. It also demonstrates that this prevalence is lower than that of several other groups of children who were also victims of the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince. Children living in the streets for economic reasons presented a lower prevalence of symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression than those who were on the streets as a result of psychological or physical abuse within their own families, in adoptive families or in childrens homes. This study demonstrates the importance of care provision for these children in terms of helping them develop coping and resilience strategies. It also stresses the importance of providing them with nonviolent living environments and opportunities to facilitate their return to normality.

Multiple traumas and resilience among street children in Haiti: Psychopathology of survival

In Haiti, as in several developing countries, the phenomenon of street children has become a major public health issue. These children are often victims of traumas and adverse life events. This article aimed to investigate traumas experienced by street children and their coping and resilience strategies used to deal with adversities in a logic of survival, relying on a mixed method approach. A group of 176 street children, aged 7-18 (n = 21 girls), recruited in Port-au-Prince, completed measures assessing PTSD, social support and resilience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to document traumatic experiences, factors related to resilience and coping strategies. After performing statistical analyses to evaluate prevalence and predictors associated with PTSD, and level of social support satisfaction and resilience, qualitative analysis using a grounded theory approach was conducted. Results showed that street children experienced multiple traumas such as neglect, maltreatment, psychological, physical and sexual abuse. However, they also showed self-efficacy to face their traumatic experiences and few of them (less than 15%) obtained scores reaching clinical rates of PTSD, while a large majority presented a level of resilience between moderate to very high. A socio-ecological model of multiple traumas and a model of coping, survival and resilience strategies are conceptualized. Data provide a better understanding of the traumas experienced by street children, their coping and resilience strategies. Results underscore ways to develop practices to offer psychological support, social and vocational integration based on the real needs of these children, in a perspective of social justice.

Psychometric properties of the Haitian Creole version of the Resilience Scale with a sample of adult survivors of the 2010 earthquake.

BACKGROUND Resilience is defined as the ability of people to cope with disasters and significant life adversities. The present paper aims to investigate the underlying structure of the Creole version of the Resilience Scale and its psychometric properties using a sample of adult survivors of the 2010 earthquake. METHODS A parallel analysis was conducted to determine the number of factors to extract and confirmatory factor analysis was performed using a sample of 1355 adult survivors of the 2010 earthquake from people of specific places where earthquake occurred with an average age of 31.57 (SD=14.42). All participants completed the Creole version of Resilience Scale (RS), the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Social Support Questionnaire (SQQ-6). To facilitate exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the sample was divided into two subsamples (subsample 1 for EFA and subsample 2 for CFA). RESULTS Parallel analysis and confirmatory factor analysis results showed a good-fit 3-factor structure. The Cronbach α coefficient was .79, .74 and .72 respectively for the factor 1, 2 and 3 and correlated to each other. Construct validity of the Resilience scale was provided by significant correlation with measures of depression and social support satisfaction, but no correlation was found with posttraumatic stress disorder measure, except for factor 2. CONCLUSIONS The results reveal a different factorial structure including 25 items of the RS. However, the Haitian Creole version of RS is a valid and reliable measure for assessing resilience for adults in Haiti.

The Stone That Mourns Its Victims: Haiti Still Recovering From Its Injuries and Traumas 5 Years After the 2010 Earthquake

On Jan. 12, 2010, at 4:53 p.m. local time, Haiti was struck by the largest earthquake in its modern history. The quake killed over 222,000 people, about 2.5% of the national population, and left more than 300,000 injured, between 4,000 and 7,000 amputees, and roughly 1.5 million homeless. Following the earthquake, studies were carried out to evaluate its impact on mental health. Depending on the age group and the time of assessment, prevalences ranged from 24.6% to 47.7% for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and from 26.0% to 46.2% for major depressive disorder (1–4). Studies also revealeddifficulties inmourning the deaths of those who went missing (5). The inhumation of corpses in mass graves without identification and without respect for any cultural ritual has greatly prevented survivors from mourning their relatives who perished in this disaster, as is described by participants in various studies carried out since July 2010 (2) and reported in other studies (6). In fact, as Kluger(7) suggested,whenthere isnograve,mourningbecomes endless. Indeed, according to figures from the Haitian government and international institutions, at least 180,000 corpses were put in mass graves without being formally identified (8). Moreover, to date, no list of victims has been established. In theabsenceof this list, forwhichnoofficial initiativehas been takenyet, thememorial of theearthquakehasbecomean important place of pilgrimage. Consisting of the stone shown here and its plate, on which is written in Creole “12 January 2010/We will never forget,” the memorial represents, symbolically, the solid remains of the disaster. Erected on the largest mass grave at the north entrance of Port-au-Prince, where between 70,000 and 90,000 corpses are buried, according to the authorities, it is a place of contemplation for relatives who pay tribute to victims at special occasions: birthdays,November1 (All Saints’Day), January12, etc. In the absence of tangible signs that can facilitate the grieving Memorial for the Haiti earthquake of Jan. 12, 2010 (photograph by Darwin Clormeus; used by permission)