Self-Esteem as Predictor of Post-Traumatic Stress among Victims of Human Trafficking in South-West Nigeria

The advent of human trafficking has become a global plague in the twentieth century. This study examined self-esteem as a predictor of Post-Traumatic stress among a group of selected victims of human trafficking. A correlational survey design was adopted in the study. The accidental sampling technique was used to select seventy-eight (78) victims of human trafficking who were in different zones of the National Agency for Trafficked Persons (NAPTIP). Post-traumatic Stress Scale, developed by Keane et al (1984) (α = .97) and the Inventory for Self-Esteem by Hudson, (1984) = (α. 92) was used to gather necessary information for the study. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested using an independent t-test and simple linear regression analysis. The results showed that self-esteem showed an inverse prediction on post-traumatic stress disorder (β = -.28 p < .01), and the scores of victims with low self–esteem (X) = 26.14, high self–esteem (X) = 20.44 were significantly different. The observed difference in the mean reached a significant level at t (53) = -3. 26, P<.05. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the National Agency for Trafficked Persons and other humanitarian organizations should establish a clinical unit within their organizations to help victims learn and become psychologically resilient should engage victims into therapeutic and educational programs and using clinical interventions to help boost self-esteem, and self-awareness of these victims to reduce the trauma associated problems associated with the heinous activities of human trafficking.