PTSD in Children Younger Than the Age of 13: Toward Developmentally Sensitive Assessment and Management

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder can be more difficult to assess compared to other disorders. The complicated nature of the symptoms contributes to underdetection of the diagnosis in children. The most substantial proposal for the diagnostic criteria is to lower the Criterion C requirement from three to one symptom. Comorbid disorders tend to complicate the clinical picture, but research is reviewed showing that posttraumatic stress disorder is the core, well-defined posttrauma syndrome. Early longitudinal studies have suggested that the course may be more chronic in children than in adults. Caution is urged about how to view the effects of parent–child relationships on children's symptomatology following trauma. The author organizes advice for interviewing respondents into seven practical suggestions and discusses treatment implications.

Keywords:

• posttraumatic stress disorder
• children
• youth
• review