Identifying PTSD and Complex PTSD Profiles in Child Victims of Sexual Abuse

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are frequent in child victims of sexual abuse. Authors argued that early trauma could lead to alterations in development that go far beyond the primary symptoms of PTSD and have proposed that Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) involving alterations in attachment, biology, affect regulation, consciousness, behavioral regulation, cognition, and self-concept, may better describe children experiencing chronic trauma at an early developmental stage. The aim of the study was to disentangle the diversity of profiles in child victims of sexual abuse based on the C-PTSD framework. Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct subgroups in a sample of 861 sexually abused children aged 6 to 12. Children and their non-offending parents completed questionnaires evaluating PTSD symptoms and measures documenting alterations in development characteristics of C-PTSD. Latent profile analysis identified a best-fitting model consisting of three profiles: PTSD (40.7% of children), Resilient (32.8% of children), and C-PTSD (26.5% of children). Compared to others, children in the C-PTSD profile were more likely to have experienced more forms of interpersonal trauma and showed impairments in several domains. Findings underscore the importance of tailoring interventions to efficiently address the needs of young victims of sexual trauma.