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Are Children or Adolescents More at Risk for Posttraumatic Stress Reactions Following Exposure to Violence?: Evidence
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
|September 24, 2016
Summary
Adolescents reported higher posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) than children after the Rwandan Genocide. However, symptom patterns varied by age, with younger children showing fewer re-experiencing and dysphoric arousal symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Trauma Studies
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- The relationship between age and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following violence exposure remains unclear.
- Previous research has yielded inconsistent findings regarding whether children or adolescents exhibit higher PTSS levels.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in PTSS among survivors of the Rwandan Genocide.
- To examine how specific symptom clusters of PTSS vary by age in a young population exposed to extreme violence.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the 1995 UNICEF National Trauma Survey (NTS) of 942 Rwandan Genocide survivors aged 8-19.
- Assessed PTSS using a DSM-IV based symptom checklist, analyzing both overall scores and five distinct factor scores.
Main Results:
- Overall PTSS scores were significantly lower in children compared to adolescents (p < 0.05).
- Age differences were significant for re-experiencing (p < 0.001) and dysphoric arousal (p < 0.05) symptom factors.
- No significant age-associated differences were found for avoidance, numbing, or anxious arousal symptom factors.
Conclusions:
- Adolescents exhibited higher overall PTSS than children following the Rwandan Genocide.
- Differential age-related responses across PTSS symptom clusters may explain inconsistencies in prior research.
- Findings highlight the complexity of age as a factor in trauma response.
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