Prevalence Rates of Children's Posttraumatic Stress Responses to Acute, Nonabusive Stressors and to Chronic or Abusive Stressors

Type of stressor
Symptoms Acute, nonabusive Chronic or abusive
DSM-IV criteria and symptoms

B. Reexperiencing (1 required) 92%** 86%
B1. Intrusive memories 38% 27
B1. Posttraumatic play 13% 40%
B1. Daydream about event 26%*
B1. Talkative about event 31%
B2. Bad dreams 23% 61%
B3. Reliving the event 30% 67%*
B3. Reenactment of the event 54%* 33%*
B4. Reminders are distressing 51% 74%**
B. Trauma-specific fears 30% 33%
B5. Somatic complaints 31% 15%
C. Avoidance/numbness (3 required) 30%** 54%
C. Numbness 42% 56%
C1. Tries to forget about the event 17% 55%
C2. Avoids reminders 22% 57%
C3. Unable to recall parts of event 9% 34%*
C4. Loss of interest in activities 42% 29%
C5./C6. Detached or withdrawn 40% 14%
C7. Pessimistic about the future 12% 35%**
D. Overarousal (2 required) 55%** 71%
D1. Difficulty sleeping 29% 30%
D2. Irritability 20% 35%
D3. Difficulty concentrating 52% 24%
D4. Hypervigilant 31% 15%
D5. Exaggerated startle response 24% 48%
Diagnosis of PTSD 36% 36%
Associated symptoms or diagnoses

Generalized anxiety 55% 26%
Separation anxiety 45% 35%
Panic 35%* 6%
Depression 10% 28%
Guilt 32% 59%**
Regressive behavior 6% 22%
Aggressive or antisocial behavior 17% 20%
Low self-esteem
34%
Dissociative response 31%* 100%*
Self-destructive behavior
9%
Eating problems 5% 8%
Omen formation 30%* 0%*
Warped time perspective 13% 0%*
Sleepwalking 1% 3%*
Adjustment disorder 16%* 21%
ADHD 22%* 11% 34%**
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Source: Fletcher, K.E. (1996). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder. In E.J. Mash & R.A. Barkley (Eds.), Child psychopathology (pp. 242-276). NY: The Guilford Press. The child data is from the empirical literature up to the first quarter of 1993.

Note.Percentages based on a total of 100 or more subjects unless otherwise noted.
Preschool = < 7; school = 6-12; teen = 12+.
*n = 11-49; **n = 50-99.

Table 1.

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