1. Conclusion Method Introduction Results Corresponding author: Sidsel Karsberg, National Research Centre for Psychotraumatology, University of Southern Denmark, skarsberg@health.sdu.dk Despite a growing number of studies and reports indicating a very high and increasing prevalence of trauma exposure in Greenlandic adolescents, the knowledge on this subject is still very limited. The purpose of the present study was twofold: 1)To estimate the lifetime prevalence of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 2)To examine the relationship between PTEs, estimated PTSD, and sociodemographic variables. In a Greenlandic sample from 4 different schools in 2 different minor towns in Northern Greenland, 269 students, aged 12-18 (M=15.4; SD=1.84) were assessed for their level of exposure to 20 PTEs along with the psychological impact of these events. Of the Greenlandic students, 86% had been directly exposed to at least 1 PTE and 74.3% had been indirectly exposed to at least one PTE. The mean number of directly experienced PTEs was 2.8 and the mean number of indirectly experienced PTEs was 3.9. The most frequent direct events recorded were death of someone close, near drowning, threat of assault/beating, humiliation or persecution by others and attempted suicide. The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 17.1%, whereas another 14.2% reached a subclinical level of PTSD (missing the full diagnosis by 1 symptom). Education level of the father, and being exposed to multiple direct and indirect PTEs were significantly associated with an increase in PTSD symptoms. The findings indicate substantial mental health problems in Greenlandic adolescents and that these are associated with various types of PTEs. Furthermore, the findings indicate that Greenlandic adolescents are more exposed to certain specific PTEs than adolescents in similar studies from other nations. The present study revealed that Greenlandic girls are particularly vulnerable towards experiencing PTEs. Indeed, in general, girls reported more experiences of direct and indirect PTEs than boys. Furthermore, girls reported being more commonly exposed to specific types of PTEs compared to boys. Studies with similar designs from other cultures Table 3: Analysis of variance between Trauma and Life events and PTSD Severity. One-way Anova. F-ratio values PTSDEffectsizedf School4.586³0.073 Gender18.533⁵0.08881 Age2.0890,066 Education father2.666¹0.04793 Education Mother1.000.0173 Not living with two parents4.069²0.042 Direct exposure9.991⁵0.3711 Indirect exposure2.8⁵0.2420 p≤ ¹⁾.05 ²⁾.01 ³⁾.005 ⁴⁾.001 ⁵⁾.0005 Table 1: Trauma and Life Events According to Exposure and Gender Direct exposureIndirect exposure MalesFemales AllMalesFemalesAll Event (n=114)(n=151) (n=269ᵃ)(n=114)(n=151)(n=269ᵃ) 1. Traffic accident 2.6 64.521.123.222.3 2. Other serious accidents7.96.67.122.821.923 3. Physical assault6.19.38.232.537.736.1 4. Rape3.513.99.3³⁾15.826.521.9 5. Witnessed other people being injured or killed05.33¹⁾11.414.613.4 6. Came close to being injured or killed9.69.99.713.211.312.6 7. Threatened to be beaten17.523.821.614.923.820.1 8. Near-drowning28.917.222.310.521.217.1¹⁾ 9. Attempted suicide9.625.218.6⁴⁾25.427.827.1 10. Robbery/theft15.813.914.516.720.519.3 11. Pregnancy/abortion2.617.911.2⁵⁾27.238.433.8 12. Serious illness6.145.222.831.127.1 13. Death of someone close6467.566.225.425.225.7 14. Divorce17.517.217.518.426.523 15. Sexual abuse4.414.610²⁾9.623.217.8³⁾ 16. Physical abuse5.38.67.48.816.613.8 17. Severe childhood neglect9.67.98.67.017.213¹⁾ 18. Humiliation or persecution by others (bullying)13.223.21914.917.216.7 19. Absence of a parent10.522.517.8¹⁾7.910.69.3 20. Other traumas021.101.30.7 ᵃ) Three did not state their gender ᵇ) p≤.05 ¹⁾.05 ²⁾.01 ³⁾.005 ⁴⁾.001 ⁵⁾.0005 Table 2. Direct exposure comparison total samples (%) DenmarkIcelandIsraelLithuania The Faroe Islands IndiaKenyaGreenland Event 1. Traffic accident15.927.125.516.9 39.2 194.5 2. Other serious accidents11.511.1-5.511.9 17.0 20.77.1 3. Physical assault4.67.8304.49.7 7.8 22.58.2 4. Rape1.83.38.11.64.2 1.2 9.89.3 5. Witnessed other people being injured or killed95.8-3.39.7 18.5 38.43 6. Came close to being injured or killed10.58.744.7612.6 18.2 37.89.7 7. Threatened to be beaten26.927.624.329.731.9 10.5 3421.6 8. Near-drowning18.720.921.326.421.1 8.5 2322.3 9. Attempted suicide6.210.27.56.610.1 2.4 15.218.6 10. Robbery/theft11.818.41819.813.8 10.9 33.814.5 11. Pregnancy/abortion1.82.5-03.1 3.4 13.811.2 12. Serious illness12.64.816.27.713.1 27,5 54.95.2 13. Death of someone close51.842.77.124.253.3 41.4 54.166.2 14. Divorce1920.4-11.513.2 2.4 2917.5 15. Sexual abuse1.53.94.34.45.2 2.7 19.810 16. Physical abuse3.62.94.93.87.4 6.1 27.87.4 17. Severe childhood neglect3.12.94.71.15.1 4.4 25.38.6 18. Humiliation or persecution by others (bullying)22.623.3159.830.5 11.7 32.219 19. Absence of a parent7.45.8-4.414.7 8.3 37.417.8 20. Other traumas5.68.35.94.47.0 4.6 8.81.1 Elklit A. Victimization and PTSD in a Danish national youth probability sample. J Am Acad Child Psy. 2002; 41:17481. Bödvarsdottir I, Elklit A. Victimization and PTSD-like states in an Icelandic youth probability sample. BMC Psychiatry. 2007;7:1-26. Rhiger M, Elklit A, Lasgaard M. 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