NCJ Number
114767
Journal
Archives of General Psychiatry Volume: 44 Dated: (December 1987) Pages: 1057-1063
Date Published
1987
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study examined acute responses of 159 black and Hispanic school children, age 6 to 13, to a 1984 fatal sniper attack on a schoolmate on an elementary school playground.
Abstract
Systematic self-reports of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were obtained using a child PTSD reaction index. Of the children, 38.4 percent showed moderate or severe symptons of TSD, 22 percent reported mild symptoms, and 39.6 percent had no PTSD. There were extreme variations in the percentage of children endorsing each of the index items with 84 percent reporting the event as an extreme stressor and 12 percent reporting feeling guilty. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences by exposure to the incident, but not by sex, ethnicity, or age. All but two of the index items were significantly related to exposure. Highly exposed children in all age groups described the full range of PTSD symptoms. Children with less severe levels of exposure rarely evidenced acute PTSD, and when they did, other situational or risk factors were sometimes apparent. Factors differentiating children with moderate and severe reactions from those with little or no reaction included symptoms of intrusiveness, emotional constriction, and avoidance. Disturbed sleep and difficulty with concentration differentiated severe from moderate PTSD reactions. 4 tables and 26 references. (Author abstract modified)