Post-traumatic Stress Disorder among child perpetrators and victims of violence from the Northern Uganda civil war: Findings from the WAYS study

War experiences are known risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other poor psychosocial outcomes. This study aimed to assess the extent to which perpetrating violence (operationalised as intentional and unintentional killing or mutilation) and being a victim of violence (operationalised as being a victim of violence, e. g., witnessing violence, injuries, torture) predict PTSD and other psychosocial outcomes independently in war-affected youth of Northern Uganda. Data on war experiences, PTSD, psychosocial problems, and socio-demographic characteristics were collected from the youth formerly abducted by the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at baseline (mean age = 22.39 years; SD = 10.47) and at follow-up (mean age = 23.52 years; SD = 9.28) using self-report questionnaires. On average, the participants spent 3.13 years in captivity (SD = 2.99) and were abducted at 14.14 years of age (SD = 4.21). Regression models were fitted to predict PTSD and psychosocial outcomes from perpetratin...