Copyright (c) 2025 Assistant. Prof. Bezhan Ayubi, Khwaja Zabihullah Sediqi, Mohammad Jawad Mirzaee

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Traumatic Events, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Growth among University Students in Kabul City
Corresponding Author(s) : Bezhan Ayubi
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 2 No. 3 (2025): July
Abstract
Although trauma and PTSD are relatively common in Afghanistan, not everyone who is exposed to such events goes on to develop PTSD. In actuality, some people demonstrate resilience and experience positive psychological transformation, a phenomenon known as post-traumatic growth. This research focused on exploring how traumatic experiences and PTSD symptoms are structurally linked to PTG in university students. 250 students participated through the snowball sampling method. The Traumatic Experience Checklist, PCL-5, and PTGI questionnaires, with acceptable reliability, were used to collect the data. The data was analyzed using SPSS-24. The results indicate that most participants went through multiple traumatic events, and more than half (61.2%) of the participants personally experienced a natural disaster, 29.3% were witnesses of traffic accidents, and 33.6% heard about an assault with a weapon. The prevalence of PTSD symptoms was 48.8% and 35.6% of participants reported experiencing moderate to high degrees of PTG. Furthermore, the results showed that traumatic experiences and symptoms of PTSD directly influence and significantly predict PTG. It can be concluded that experience of traumatic events and PTSD may lead to a positive change. These results can guide future research to examine the mechanisms and moderating factors like resilience, social support and ways of coping and that influence this relationship.. Interventions can be designed not only to treat PTSD but also to nurture PTG by incorporating trauma-informed and strength-based approaches.
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Collier, L. (2016, November 1). Growth after trauma. Monitor on psychology, 47(10). Link
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Cuffe, S. P., Addy, C. L., Garrison, C. Z., Waller, J. L., Jackson, K. L., McKeown, R. E., & Chilappagari, S. (1998). Prevalence of PTSD in a community sample of older adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 37(2), 147-154. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199802000-00006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199802000-00006
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Hu, B., Yang, X., & Tuo, X. (2023). The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in college students by continents and national income during the COVID-19 pandemic: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1129782. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1129782 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1129782
Jewkes, et al., (2018). Trauma exposure and IPV experienced by Afghan women: Analysis of the baseline of a randomised controlled trial. Plos One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201974 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201974
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Klein, S., & Alexander, D. A. (2009). Epidemiology and presentation of post-traumatic disorders. Psychiatry, 8(8), 282-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mppsy.2009.05.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mppsy.2009.05.001
Kovess-Masfety, V., Keyes, K., Karam, E., Sabawoon, A., & Sarwari, B. A. (2021). A national survey on depressive and anxiety disorders in Afghanistan: a highly traumatized population. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03273-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03273-4
Kratovic, L., Smith, L. J., & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020). PTSD Symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide risk in University students: The Role of Distress Tolerance. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 1–19. doi:10.1080/10926771.2019.1709594 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1709594
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