This study examined symptoms of posttraumatic stress in 252 school-aged children from Osijek, Croatia, which was subjected to massive military attacks from Yugoslavian forces. The children's symptoms were assessed in 1994 while the war was still going on and 30 months later when the war was over. In addition to changes in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms over time, the study examined the predictive power of (a) different types and number of war traumata, (b) loss of social community, (c) the children's demographic characteristics (age and gender), (d) types of coping strategies and locus of control, and (e) the perceived availability of different kinds of social support. Although symptoms of posttraumatic stress declined over time, 10% of the children reported a severe level of symptomatology 30 months after the war. The results supported the hypothesized predictive power of all investigated factors for predicting short- and long-term posttraumatic stress reactions.

This study examines affective and behavioral symptomatology in two groups of school-age children who were traumatized to different degrees during the war in Croatia (N = 1034). Six self-reported questionnaires were used to assess the following: number and type of war experiences, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and psychosocial adaptation. Canonical discriminant analysis yielded a significant discriminant function that indicates moderate differentiation between the two groups of children according to the assessed symptoms. The results of a 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVAs (gender x age x level of traumatization) indicate that the children's reactions to war traumata varied in respect to all factors, as well as their interaction. The results indicate that gender differences are more prominent in older children. Older girls report more posttraumatic stress reactions, anxiety and depression, but at the same time seem better adapted than boys. Younger children, particularly those who survived more war even report more PTSD symptoms than older children.

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The aim of this study was to examine possible beneficial effects of pet ownership on the selfesteem of war-traumatized school children. The Croatian version of Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale was administered to three groups of elementary school children of both sexes, grades 5 to 8, all severely affected by war: dog or cat owners (n=295), owners of other kinds of animals (n=144), and non-pet owners (n=173). There were no differences between groups on basic socio-demographic variables. It was hypothesized that war-traumatized pet owners, especially owners of dogs and cats, would have higher self-esteem than war-traumatized non-pet owners. Sex and age differences in self-esteem were also examined. The results of the three-way ANOVA (Pet x Ownership x Sex x Age) showed that only age had a significant effect on self-esteem, with fifth and sixth graders having higher self-esteem than seventh and eight graders. Thus, the hypothesis that pet ownership could have beneficial effects on self-esteem of war-traumatized children was not supported. The importance of more precise measures of the pet-child relationship is emphasized.

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