Assessment of PTSD and posttraumatic symptomatology in very young children: A systematic review

Abstract

Context Very young children are said to be a vulnerable group for exposure to trauma, and for a psychopathological response (e.g., PTSD) after a risk‐exposure. The specific assessment of young children is necessary to enable them to be enrolled in an appropriate care pathway. Objective The objective was to identify the instruments available in the English language for the assessment of posttraumatic symptoms in very young children (from 0‐ to 5‐year old). Design This article reports on a systematic review, conducted using the search engines Google Scholar, Science Direct, PsycArticles, and PubMed. Results Nine instruments are available to specifically assess traumatic symptomatology in very young children (0–7‐year old), five instruments are available for the broader assessment of very young children (1–6‐year old), six instruments are available for the assessment of traumatic symptoms in very young children and in older children (2–18‐year old), one instrument did not correspond to any category. These 21 tools are adapted to different ages, built according to different objectives, and do not rely on the same diagnostic algorithm. Conclusion Future research should compare the instruments quantitatively to identify those most specific and sensitive to the assessment of trauma symptoms in young children.

Depremin Okul Öncesi Çocuklar Üzerindeki Etkileri Üzerine Bir İnceleme

“…Moreover, the lifestyle behaviors developed by preschool children also have an impact in the later stages of life (Lanigan et al, 2019). Most importantly, preschool children are more vulnerable to traumatic experiences than older people (Moner et al, 2022;Woolgar et al, 2022). Similarly, they show a higher rate of physical problems, like foodborne disease, compared to older age groups (Obande et al, 2023).…”