Citation

Jonkman CS, Verlinden E, Bolle EA, Boer F, Lindauer RJ. J. Trauma. Stress 2013; 26(2): 225-232.

Affiliation

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; De Bascule, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.21792

PMID

23494717

Abstract

The sequelae of child maltreatment tend to extend current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. This study examined this assumption, hypothesizing that (a) PTSD and trauma-related symptoms are more severe after single trauma than after child maltreatment; (b) symptoms unrelated to trauma are more severe after child maltreatment than after single trauma; and (c) a comorbid association of clinical PTSD with trauma-related symptoms is more prevalent after single trauma, whereas a comorbid association of clinical PTSD with trauma unrelated symptoms is more prevalent after child maltreatment. The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) assessed PTSD and trauma-related symptoms in 256 children (83 children exposed to single trauma, 173 to child maltreatment). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) assessed trauma-unrelated symptoms. Single-trauma children reported significantly more severe PTSD and trauma-related symptoms. Significantly more severe trauma unrelated symptoms were reported after child maltreatment. A significant relation was found between clinical PTSD and more severe trauma-related symptoms in both samples. Likelihood of children meeting PTSD symptoms after trauma seems to decrease when traumatization becomes more complex. Findings support our assumption that symptomatology of maltreated children extends current PTSD symptoms.

Language: en