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Two Decades Later: The Resilience and Post-Traumatic Responses of Indigenous Quechua Girls and Adolescents in the Aftermath of the Peruvian Armed Conflict

NCJ Number
242112
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 37 Issue: 2-3 Dated: February/March 2013 Pages: 200-210
Author(s)
Eliana Barrios Suarez
Date Published
March 2013
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the long-term outcomes for resilience and post-traumatic responses for a sample of Quechua women who were adolescents during the Peruvian armed conflict of 1980-1995.
Abstract
This study found that only 5.3 percent of the Quechua women who were exposed to extreme violence during the Peruvian armed conflict reported current levels of symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study also found that women who had experienced sexual violence as adolescents during the conflict reported significantly higher levels of PTSD-related symptoms. In addition, the study found that while resilience scores and years exposed to conflict were not associated with PTSD-related symptoms, the degree of exposure to war violence as a child and the women's current level of stress were related to the variance in the overall levels of PTSD-related symptoms. These findings indicate the need for post-conflict interventions aimed at improving resilience for persons, particularly women and children, exposed to extreme levels of violence during war. Data for the study was obtained from a sample of Quechua women, n=75, aged 25 to 45 years old, who were exposed to extreme incidences of violence during the Peruvian armed conflict of 1980-1995. The participants completed the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire Part I and IV, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Life Stress Questionnaire. The data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses to determine the long-term outcomes of PTSD and resilience for the participants. Study limitations are discussed. Tables and references