No one wants the words “post-traumatic stress disorder” and “children” to appear in the same sentence. But recent events like the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting are reminders that children as well as adults can be exposed to events that cause this debilitating but highly treatable men...tal illness.Previous posts in this series explained why I advocate for children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), explored 5 myths and misconceptions about PTSD in children, and defined both trauma and PTSD from a child’s point of view. This post explores some of the causes of PTSD in kids.
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Child sex trafficking is a severe form of trauma exposure that has significant immediate and long-term consequences for survivors. According to the United Nations International Labor Organization, in 2016 more than 1 million children worldwide were victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Currentl...y, no reliable estimate of the prevalence of child sex trafficking in the US exists, in part due to its hidden nature, disparities in definitions, and methodological challenges.
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Background: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) develops following some stressful events. There has been increasing recognition that children who have been exposed to traumatic events like child sexual abuse can develop post-traumatic stress disorder just like adults.
Objective: To determine prev...alence of PTSD in sexually abused children seen at the Gender Based Violence Recovery Centre at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Design: A cross sectional descriptive study.
Setting: Gender Based Violence Recovery Centre – Kenyatta National Hospital. Subjects One hundred and forty-nine (n = 149) sexually abused children were recruited in the study.
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This study investigated the recollections of child survivors of the 2004 Asian tsunami in terms of their vantage point and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) responses. Five years after the tsunami, 110 children (aged 7–13 years) living in Aceh, Indonesia were assessed for source of memories of ...the tsunami (personal memory or second-hand source), vantage point of the memory, and were administered the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale-13.
PLoSONE 11(9):e0162030.doi:10.1371/journal.
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The aim of this study is to research deeply on the post-traumatic stress disorder in sexually abused children. Proving the presence of forms of the disorder in children and the their treatment mode will be in the center of the study. The methods used to conduct this study will be a literature review... on the focused issue referring to reviews of articles which focus on the defined peer group. For the purpose we have selected only articles focusing on sexually abused children treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. The results of the study reveal that all forms of abuse could bring consequences on children, even more, posttraumatic stress is the language with which the victims communicate their sorrow in the most typical mode. Sexual abuse as one of the major forms of abuse, is among the most severe which cause irreversible consequences over a category of children. In conclusion we can assume that post-traumatic stress in sexually abused children might appear through the most severe forms of psychiatric and psychological symptoms and for the recovery and rehabilitation of the child in many cases the pharmacological treatment seems as the best choice for the child.
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Background: Several studies have demonstrated that South African children and adolescents are
exposed to high levels of violent trauma with a significant proportion developing PTSD, however,
limited resources make it difficult to accurately identify traumatized children.
Conclusions: Our result...s indicate that trauma exposure and PTSD are prevalent in South African
youth and if appropriate cut-offs are used, self-report scales may be useful screening tools for
PTSD.
Annals of General Psychiatry 2005, 4:2doi:10.1186/1744-859X-4-2
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White Paper from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Refugee Trauma Task Force
Provides policymakers and other stakeholders with an overview of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its relationship to child trauma, as well as policy-relevant and child trauma-focused recommendations to assist them in their response to intimate partner violence.
Background: Understanding the natural course of child and adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has significant implications for the identification of, and intervention for, at-risk youth. We used a meta-analytic approach to examine longitudinal changes in youth PTSD prevalence and symptom...s over the first 12 months posttrauma.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry57:8 (2016), pp 884–898
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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents occurs as a result of a child’s exposure to one or more traumatic events: actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. The victim may experience the event, witness it, learn about it from close family members or fr...iends, or experience repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the event. Potentially traumatic events include physical or sexual assaults, natural disasters, and accidents.
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Hilfe und Information in der Ulmer Onlineklinik | Accessed Online January 2019. | The CATS questionnaire is a short freely accessible screening instrument directly based on the DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumat...ic stress symptoms.
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Hilfe und Information in der Ulmer Onlineklinik | Accessed Online January 2019. | The CATS questionnaire is a short freely accessible screening instrument directly based on the DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumat...ic stress symptoms.
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Hilfe und Information in der Ulmer Onlineklinik | Accessed Online January 2019. | The CATS questionnaire is a short freely accessible screening instrument directly based on the DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumat...ic stress symptoms.
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents occurs when a child is exposed to one or more events that are unexpected, uncontrollable, life-threatening, and likely to cause serious harm or injury to himself/herself or someone significantly important to the child. In response, th...e child experiences fear, hopelessness, or horror and responds with a characteristic set of physiological and psychological reactions, which perpetuates the overwhelming and confusing feelings. Symptoms are characterized into three groups: persistent, intrusive re-experiencing of traumatic recollections; avoidance of reminders/numbing; and increased arousal.
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a major trauma. Children and teens with PTSD can have a number of symptoms after a trauma that fall into three categories: (1) Reliving the trauma in some way; (2) Attempts to avoid anythin...g that reminds the child or teen of the trauma; (3) Very high anxiety (also called "hyperarousal") and being easily startled. Children and teens with PTSD usually have some symptoms from each of these categories.
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Hilfe und Information in der Ulmer Onlineklinik | Accessed Online January 2019. | The CATS questionnaire is a short freely accessible screening instrument directly based on the DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumat...ic stress symptoms.
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Adapted from NTCSD - The National Child Traumatic Stress Network | Hilfe und Information in der Ulmer Onlineklinik | Accessed Online January 2019. | The CATS questionnaire is a short freely accessible screening instrument directly based on the DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).... It is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumatic stress symptoms.
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After a frightening or distressing experience (any kind of injury, a physical or sexual assault, car crash, fire, or other natural disaster), a child or teen may suffer psychological
stress in addition to any physical injuries.
When these reactions last for more than a month and are strong enough ...to affect a child's or teen's everyday functioning, that child may be diagnosed as having Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
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The 12 Core Concepts for Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses in Children and Families
provide a rationale for trauma-informed assessment and intervention. The Concepts cover a broad
range of points that practitioners and agencies should consider as they strive to assess, understand,
and assi...st trauma-exposed children, families, and communities in trauma-informed ways.
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