MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Although traumatic events are common during childhood, they usually do not result in post-traumatic stress symptoms, and the prognosis for healthy adult development after a single traumatic event is favorable, according to a report published in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
William E. Copeland, Ph.D., and colleagues at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., conducted a study of 1,420 children aged 9, 11 and 13 years at intake who were assessed annually until they were 16 years old.
Although at least one traumatic event by the age of 16 was reported by over two-thirds of the study cohort, only 13.4 percent of those children developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and most children who experienced only one traumatic event did not develop symptoms. Less than 0.5 percent of the cohort could be categorized as having developed full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder.
The highest rate of symptoms was associated with violent or sexual traumatic events, and those who had multiple exposures, an adverse family environment or an existing anxiety disorder were more likely to develop post-traumatic stress symptoms.
"Across childhood, the children who experience trauma are often those with anxiety, depressive and disruptive behavior disorders, a finding supported in the present study. This likely reflects common liability conveyed from a limited set of family risk factors," the authors write.
Abstract
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