Impact of the worst school experiences in students: a retrospective study on trauma/Impacto das piores experiencias escolares em estudantes: um estudo retrospectivo sobre trauma/Impacto de las peores experiencias en la escuela en estudiantes: un estudio retrospectivo sobre trauma

The literature indicates damage to students' mental health in cases of school violence. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the psychological impact of school victimization in university students, and to analyze the association between PTSD symptoms and variables related to school victimization. 691 University students responded to the Portuguese version of the Student Alienation and Trauma Survey (SATS). Clinically significant scores in the subscales ranged from 4.7% (somatic symptoms) to 20% (hypervigilance), with frequent symptoms described in the literature resulting from school victimization, such as depression, hopelessness, cognitive difficulties, and traumatic event recollection. Additionally, 7.8% of participants presented PTSD symptoms after suffering their "worst school experience". Associations were found between PTSD symptoms and the level of distress after the experience, as well as the perceived benefits after the event, and duration. The results confirm the potential detrimental effects of school victimization, and may be useful to further investigations on this topic. Keywords: school violence, emotional trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder A literatura indica a existencia de danos para a saude mental de estudantes em casos de violencia no contexto escolar. O objetivo deste estudo retrospectivo foi avaliar o impacto psicologico da vitimizacao escolar em estudantes universitarios e analisar a associacao dos sintomas de TEPT com variaveis relacionadas a vitimizacao. No total, 691 estudantes universitarios responderam a Escala sobre Experiencias Traumaticas em Estudantes. Escores clinicamente significativos nas subescalas variaram de 4,7% (sintomas somaticos) a 20% (hipervigilancia), sendo frequentes sintomas descritos na literatura resultantes de vitimizacao, como: depressao, desesperanca, dificuldades cognitivas e rememoracao do evento traumatico. Adicionalmente, 7,8% apresentaram sintomas de TEPT apos a sua pior experiencia escolar. Foram encontradas associacoes entre os sintomas de TEPT e o incomodo sentido apos a experiencia, beneficios percebidos apos o evento e duracao do mesmo. Tais dados indicam o potencial nocivo das experiencias de vitimizacao escolar, podendo contribuir para futuras pesquisas em tal area. Palavras-chave: violencia escolar, trauma emocional, transtorno de stress pos-traumatico La literatura indica que casos de violencia en el contexto escolar causan danos a la salud mental de los estudiantes. El o