Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents has been the main issue of several studies. These studies are usually based on populations at risk, such as child and adolescent victims of natural disaster (fire, earthquake, volcanic eruption) and human violence and conflicts (torture, inter parental violence, rape and sexual abuse, war, concentration camps, ethnic cleanings and genocide). With regard to empirical evidences, the prevalence rate of PTSD symptoms in that age group is considerable, in contrast with the naive belief that children may be too young to be affected by traumatic events. Compared to natural disasters, research has shown that the impact of war and genocide on children and adolescents is more severe, due to the intensity and consequences of such events. Besides the horror of a war situation, children and adolescents exposed to it have to adapt to dramatic changes in their every-day life (displaced, refugees, orphans). Thus, special attention to such events should be given in order to protect young people from long-lasting effects. With an emphasis on symptomatic description, diagnosis, epidemiological prevalence and etiological factors, this article reviews the existing literature related to PTSD among children and adolescents groups. Substantially, the role of human violence and conflicts in the onset and development of severe and long-lasting PTSD disturbances among children and adolescents is outlined in this article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract).