Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Action Signs*

Children who experience a physical or emotional trauma, such as witnessing a shooting or disaster, surviving physical or sexual abuse, or being in a car accident, may develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Children are more easily traumatized than adults. An event that may not be traumatic to an adult - such as a bumpy plane ride - might be traumatic to a child. A child may "re-experience" the trauma through nightmares, constant thoughts about what happened, or reenacting the event while playing. A child with PTSD will experience symptoms of general anxiety, which include:
  • Irritability
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Trouble eating
  • Being easily startled

* The Action Signs Project Peter Jensen, MD, et al, REACH Institute

Note that a person's response to any potentially traumatizing event is unique to that person. Increasing evidence suggests that an event is most likely to be experienced as traumatic if, at the moment it occurs, the individual believes that he/she is in grave danger.

Clinical Guidelines

AACAP Summary of the Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, 1998

AACAP Practice Parameters for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, 1998

Screening, rating scales, diagnosis, and evaluation

See pages 16-20 of the AACAP Practice Parameter for instruments that measure all PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents.

Children's Impact of Traumatic Event Scale (Revised)

Parent information and handouts:

AACAP Facts for Families: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Stress, Trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorders in Children: Introduction
This booklet is one in a series developed by the ChildTrauma Academy to assist parents, caregivers, teachers, and various professionals working with maltreated and traumatized children. The booklet was written by Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD.

National Child Traumatic Stress Network - This web resource contains information for parents and caregivers, as well as for professionals.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Disaster and Trauma Resource Center