NCJ Number
180692
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 108-115
Date Published
January 2000
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on a study that examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other comorbid forms of psychopathology in a sample of children exposed to chronic abuse and single-event trauma.
Abstract
School-age children (n=337) were assessed for exposure to traumatic events (family violence, violent crime, death or illness of someone close to the child, and accidents) and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Children and mothers received structured diagnostic interviews to assess child psychopathology. Children from violent households were no more likely to report an extrafamilial traumatic stressor than children from nonviolent homes. Among the children reporting a traumatic event, 24.6 percent met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The leading precipitating event for PTSD symptoms was death or illness of someone close to the child (log odds = 4.3). Family violence, violent crime, but not accidents also resulted in PTSD. Children with PTSD displayed comorbidity across different symptom classes, most notably phobias and separation anxiety. The study concluded that both type I and type II trauma can result in PTSD in about one-quarter of children. Children with posttraumatic stress symptoms had many other forms of comorbid psychopathology, indicating a global and diffuse impact of trauma on children. 3 tables and 23 references