Dissociation and Posttraumatic Symptoms in Maltreated Preschool Children

This study examines dissociation and posttraumatic symptomatology in a sample of maltreated preschool-age children in foster care. Analyses compared Child Behavior Checklist subscale scores for the foster care sample and a community sample, and also examined differences between maltreatment subtypes. Exposure to any type of maltreatment was associated with greater dissociation and posttraumatic symptomatology in this sample. Preschool-age children with documented sexual abuse displayed high levels of posttraumatic symptoms, whereas children with documented physical abuse tended to use dissociation as a primary coping mechanism. The finding that physically abused children had high levels of dissociation confirms previous research with preschoolers.