EPA-1642 – Parental Unemployment and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms. a Study Through the Fog of Greek Financial Crisis

Abstract

Parental unemployment is closely related to poverty and economically stressful conditions in family life (Harland et al., 2002). In 2008, as a consequence of the global financial crisis, the Greek population started facing a serious socio-economic turmoil. During the year 2013 the rate of unemployment appears to be close or even greater than 27%.

The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of parental unemployment on the development in students of PTSD symptoms that are related to exposure to school bullying.

Participants were 2377 primary school students from Athens.

The questionnaires were group-administered in each classroom : 3 types of questionnaires : Demographic Information Questionnaire, Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index (Frederick, 1985), Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (Olweus, 1996-2006).

The findings showed that children that reside in families that both parents are unemployed have on average significantly higher PTSD scores related to exposure to school bullying.

According to our view the greater PTSD scores in the group of students that experience paternal unemployment can be an outcome of severe economic stress in family life that influences their psychosocial development and reduces their capacity to overcome successfully adverse events, such as school bullying.

Also, the presence of various emotional problems that are more common in this group of students according to previous findings (Harland et at.,2002), maybe played a role in reducing the threshold for the development of PTSD symptoms. Properly designed interventions should provide support to students that experience economically stressful conditions, such as paternal unemployment.