Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder related to trauma and stress that can affect anyone. After experiencing a traumatic event, a survey was conducted to assess the prevalence of PTSD among adolescents in terms of public high schools in the prefecture of Salé in Morocco. We were study the impact of this disorder by studying the level of anxiety and depression which present the most associated disorders of PTSD.

Materials and methods: Ten schools were randomly selected from 37 schools and 500 students were selected using the cross-section method and the age of these students were between 14 and 17 years old. Standardized questionnaires were used and completed by the students for this survey, which was carried out from March to June 2017. Cox regression analyzes were performed to investigate independent variables predictors of PTSD.

Results: The participation rate was 89.23% (n = 348) among 390 adolescents. We found 25.8% of prevalence of PTSD. The factors predictors of PTSD was gender (hazard ratio (HR) =1.422, 95% C.I =1.030-1.964, p=0.033), repetitive dreams (HR =1.286, 95% C.I =1.154-1.434, p<0.0001), sleep interrupted (HR =1.237, 95% C.I =1.105-1.386, p<0.0001), difficulties of memory (HR =1.134, 95% C.I = 0.996-1.291, p=0.050) and difficulties of concentration (HR=1.135, 95% C.I = 1.010-1.276, p=0.034). While for PTSD co-morbidities, among adolescents, 81.50% were found to have anxiety and 56.67% to have depression.

Conclusions: The impact of post-traumatic stress disorder is quite remarkable among school- aged adolescents. There are practical implications for supporting and curing these adolescents with PTSD.

Keywords: Prevalence, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Adolescent, School, Anxiety, Depression