INFLUENCE OF MARKET DEMOLITION AND GENDER ON POSTTRUAMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND SUICIDAL IDEATION AMONG MARKET TRADERS IN OWERRI

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of market demolition and gender onPosttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Suicidal Ideation (SI) among market traders in Owerri Municipal. Four hundred participants (male: 200, female: 200; mean age = 33.8) were drawn from four markets in Owerri Municipal. Two instruments: the Posttraumatic Stress Scale (PKS) and Psychache Scale (PAS) were used to measure PTSD and SI respectively. The design of the study was cross sectional survey and the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) from the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 21 was used to analyze the data collected. The result of the research showed that market demolition had significant influence on PTSD (F (1,400) = 12.93, p < .05) and SI (F (1,400) =329.27, p < .05). However, no gender difference was observed for PTSD (F (1,400) = .64, p >. 05) and SI(F (1,400) = .64, p >. 05). It was recommended that governments should engage in articulated policy actions targeted at proper relocation before embarking on the demolition cum destruction of people‟s sources of livelihood and that psychotherapists should take cognizance of the impact of economic misfortune, which the government has imposed on market traders, in the aetiology of PTSD and SI.