ABSTRACT

Background: There is an abundance of evidence suggesting that interpersonal violence commonly co-occurs with mental disorders and substance abuse. Interpersonal violence is one of the most well-documented and salient factors of mental disorders and substance abuse; however, there are no studies investigating the moderating role of interpersonal violence in post-conflict Rwanda.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between mental disorders and substance abuse among Rwandan university students, and whether the role of interpersonal violence is a moderating factor.

Method: A purposive sample of 143 undergraduate university students (mean age = 22.4 years, SD = 2.6) from University of Rwanda–Remera Campus were selected for participation in this cross-sectional study. We used linear regression analysis to examine the relationships between mental disorders, substance abuse and interpersonal violence.

Results: Substance abuse was significantly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and interpersonal violence. Interpersonal violence was a significant moderator of the associations between PTSD symptoms (β = 0.43, p < 0.001), anxiety symptoms (β = 0.47, p < 0.001), depressive symptoms (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) and substance use.

Conclusion: The results imply that PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms are associated with increased risk of substance abuse, and this risk appears to become substantially more elevated when there are also current or historic reports of interpersonal violence.

摘要

背景：有大量证据表明，人际暴力通常与精神障碍和药物滥用同时发生。人际暴力是精神障碍和药物滥用的最有据可查和最突出的因素之一；然而，没有研究调查冲突后卢旺达人际暴力的调节作用。

目的：本研究的目的是探讨卢旺达大学生精神障碍与药物滥用之间的关系，以及人际暴力的作用是否是一个调节因素。

方法：来自卢旺达大学雷梅拉校区的 143 名本科大学生（平均年龄 = 22.4 岁，SD  = 2.6）的有目的样本被选为参与这项横断面研究。我们使用线性回归分析来检查精神障碍、药物滥用和人际暴力之间的关系。

结果：药物滥用与创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD)、焦虑、抑郁和人际暴力显着相关。人际暴力是 PTSD 症状（ β  = 0.43，p  < 0.001）、焦虑症状（β  = 0.47，p  < 0.001）、抑郁症状（β  = 0.48，p  < 0.001）和物质使用之间关联的重要调节因子。

结论：结果表明 PTSD、抑郁和焦虑症状与药物滥用风险增加有关，并且当当前或历史上还存在人际暴力的报告时，这种风险似乎会大大增加。