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Abstract

The authors describe the prevalence of childhood traumatic experiences among adolescent inpatients. A Childhood Trauma Chart Review Scale (CTCRS) was developed to assess traumatic experiences during childhood and adolescence. The CTCRS was reliably applied to the medical records of 75 adolescent inpatients who had been given structured clinical interviews for DSM-III-R diagnoses at the time of admission. Most subjects (81%) had experienced at least one traumatic event during childhood, with loss of caregiver being the most frequent type of traumatic experience. Many subjects had multiple types of traumatic experiences, during both early and late childhood. A history of childhood trauma was associated with greater functional impairment and higher likelihood of having a personality disorder, but with no difference in Axis I diagnoses.

Children and adolescents treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at the Free State Psychiatric Complex

“…Davidson and Smith [22] reported that PTSD was three times more likely to develop when traumatic events were experienced before the age of 11 years. Lastly, Weine et al [23] studied 75 male and female adolescent inpatients aged 13 -18 years and found that 81% reported experiencing at least one traumatic event in childhood. The loss of a parent or caregiver was the most frequent type of trauma reported.…”