Traumatic Events and Posttraumatic Stress in Childhood

Abstract

In the general population of children, potentially traumatic events are fairly common and do not often result in PTS symptoms, except after multiple traumas or a history of anxiety. The prognosis after the first lifetime trauma exposure was generally favorable. Apart from PTSD, traumatic events are related to many forms of psychopathology, with the strongest links being with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Association Between Traumatic Injury and Psychiatric Disorders and Medication Prescription to Youths Aged 10–19

“…In this study, the observed independent association between exposure to a single injury and the subsequent increased risk of receiving psychiatric diagnoses is particularly relevant given that the vast majority of injuries were relatively minor (MAXAIS of 1 or 2). In contrast to prior reports, this investigation did not find a significantly elevated risk of disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses for youths exposed to traumatic injury after analyses adjusted for demographic and preinjury clinical characteristics (1,30). …”

“…Also of note, traumatic injuries incurred before 2001 were independently associated with an increased risk of postinjury psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic medication prescription. Prior reports suggest that pre-event psychopathology and recurrent trauma among youths and their family members are associated with an increased risk of developing PTSD and related psychiatric disorders (1,21,22,30,55). These collective findings suggest that postinjury screening and intervention protocols in acute care and pediatric practice settings may need to target high-risk children and adolescents who have been exposed to multiple injury events or who have a history of psychiatric disturbances.…”

“…One recent large-scale epidemiologic investigation found that beyond its association with PTSD, exposure to trauma is associated with the development of other anxiety, depressive, substance use, and disruptive behavior disorders among children and adolescents (1). Smaller-scale investigations in subgroups of injured youths have also suggested that the symptoms of other anxiety, depressive, substance-related, and behavioral disturbances can occur in the wake of traumatic physical injury (27–34).…”

Acute stress disorder and the transition to posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Prevalence, course, prognosis, diagnostic suitability, and risk markers

“…Trauma exposure in childhood and adolescence is common (Copeland, Keeler, Angold, & Costello, 2007), with a substantial minority of trauma‐exposed youth going on to develop PTSD (Alisic et al., 2014). PTSD may be chronic in youth, potentially lasting years (Morgan, Scourfield, Williams, Jasper, & Lewis, 2003; Yule et al., 2000).…”

Translating the Cognitive Model of PTSD to the Treatment of Very Young Children: A Single Case Study of an 8‐Year‐Old Motor Vehicle Accident Survivor

“…PTSD is characterized by disabling symptoms from four clusters; reexperiencing (e.g., flashbacks and nightmares about the trauma; avoidance (e.g., efforts to not think about or talk about the trauma); negative cognitions and mood (e.g., a persistent and distorted sense of blame of self or others to an inability to remember key aspects of the event); and hyperarousal (e.g., anger outbursts and hypervigilance for threat; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition [DSM‐5]; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Traumatic events with the potential to lead to PTSD are experienced by up to two thirds of children by 16 years of age (Copeland, Keeler, Angold, & Costello, 2007), including in preschool and early school years, even when excluding abuse. However, the DSM‐5 was the first edition to include tailored criteria capturing the differential presentation of the disorder in very young children younger than 6 years old.…”