Post-traumatic stress disorder in children: controversies and unresolved issues

Construct validity of the childbirth trauma index for adolescents

The potentially traumatic nature of childbirth for adult mothers has been confirmed in research; however, adolescent childbirth trauma is unexplored. This article presents research on the construct validity of the Childbirth Trauma Index by providing a conceptual analysis of psychological childbirth trauma, factor validity of the Childbirth Trauma Index, and discussion of testing the Childbirth Trauma Index via contrasted-groups approach. Childbirth trauma can result in an acute stress reaction or actual posttraumatic stress disorder. Using subjective reports, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Childbirth Trauma Index, an appraisal of birth trauma, trauma impact, and indicators associated with childbirth trauma were revealed among 112 adolescents. Clinical implications and research recommendations are offered.

Posttraumatic stress: a concept analysis

The purpose of this article is to examine the phenomenon of "posttraumatic stress" using the process of concept analysis as outlined in L. O. Walker and K. C. Avant's (2005) Strategies for Theory Construction in Nursing. Epidemiological studies estimate that approximately 15% to 24% of adults in America experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives. Therefore, it is critical for mental health care professionals to understand its historical evolution, the origins of its name, defining attributes, antecedents and consequences, model cases, and empirical referents. In doing so, a more thorough understanding of the underlying attributes of PTSD will be explicated along with related taxonomies.

Violência e transtorno de estresse pós-traumático na infância

O artigo apresenta a prevalência dos sintomas de transtorno de estresse pós-traumático (TEPT) em crianças escolares (6-13 anos) do município de São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro. Investiga também a associação entre TEPT, violência e outros eventos de vida adversos. O processo de amostragem utilizado foi por conglomerados em três estágios de seleção. Quinhentos pais dos estudantes foram entrevistados sobre o comportamento de seus filhos. Para avaliar os sintomas de TEPT, foi utilizado a Child Behavior Checklist -Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Scale (CBCL). Também foi aplicada a Escala Tática de Conflitos (CTS), que avalia violência familiar, e outros instrumentos que investigam o perfil socioeconômico da criança, a relação familiar, as características da criança e outros eventos de vida difíceis. Foi construído um modelo hierárquico de variáveis associadas ao TEPT, a partir do critério de 5% de significância. A prevalência dos sintomas de TEPT foi 6,5%. A análise estatística multivariada sugeriu um modelo explicativo de TEPT caracterizado por dezoito variáveis, como algumas características da criança, específicos eventos de vida adversos, violência familiar e outros fatores familiares. Os resultados revelam a necessidade de se trabalhar com a criança em momentos de sua vida especialmente difíceis, com a intenção de prevenir ou minimizar o seu impacto no funcionamento mental e social.

Validity of PTSD in a sample of refugee children: can a separate diagnostic entity be justified?

The objective of this study was to examine the construct validity of PTSD in a sample of refugee children from the Middle East-- more specifically, to assess whether associations between traumatic events and specific PTSD symptoms were more outspoken than (1) the associations of PTSD symptoms with non-traumatic exposures, and (2) the associations of violent exposures with symptoms other than PTSD-symptoms. Parents of 311 refugee children from the Middle East were interviewed concerning their children's traumatic experiences and mental health symptoms. The specific PTSD symptoms did not cluster in a factor analysis. The PTSD symptom complex was significantly predicted not only by violent exposures (mother tortured, OR 8.2, p < 0.005; father disappeared OR 3.2, p < 0.05) but also by indicators of family interaction and parents' occupational situation. The two identified violent exposures had significant independent associations with a series of symptoms including symptoms other than those of PTSD (r(s) ranging from 0.25 to 0.44, p < 0.001). Thus it does not seem sufficient to focus solely on PTSD symptomatology when assessing the mental health needs of refugee children.