Children and Disaster: Age, Gender, and Parental Effects on PTSD Symptoms

Green, Bonnie L.; Korol, Mindy; Grace, Mary C.; Vary, Marshall G.; Leonard, Anthony; Gleser, Goldine C.; Smitson-Cohen, Sheila

doi:10.1097/00004583-199111000-00012

Cited by 545 publications

(437 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Second, in our study, females had more severe PTSD and depressive symptoms than males did. These findings are consistent with the results of other studies reporting that females had more PTSD and depressive symptoms than did their male counterparts (Adams et al, 2015; Bokszczanin, 2007; Green et al, 1991). Furthermore, in our sample, children with poor parental relationships had a greater risk of PTSD and depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in children after the Wenchuan earthquake

Cheng

Liang

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Many studies have reported the comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in children. However, the underlying relationship between PTSD and depression remains unclear.Objective: This study examines the relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms in children who survived the Wenchuan earthquake in China.Methods: In total, 301 children were assessed at four months and then followed up at 29, 40 and 52 months after the disaster. The ages of the children ranged from 9.6–14.6 years old, and the sample included 157 males and 144 females. The children were assessed by using the University of California at Los Angeles PTSD reaction index for DSM-IV for PTSD symptoms and the Children’s Depression Inventory for depressive symptoms.Results: Comorbid PTSD and depressive symptoms were prevalent in 4.0, 3.3, 3.7 and 5.1% of the participants at times 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The cross-lagged analysis indicated that PTSD symptoms at time 1 predicted depressive symptoms at time 2; depressive symptoms at time 1 predicted PTSD symptoms at time 2; depressive symptoms at time 2 predicted PTSD symptoms at time 3; and depressive symptoms at time 3 predicted PTSD symptoms at time 4. The findings also showed that being female, poor parental relationships and trauma exposure were risk factors for PTSD or depressive symptoms.Conclusions: The results suggest that the causal relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms changes over time; the effects of PTSD symptoms tend to decrease, while those of depressive symptoms tend to increase. Two stages of the relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms were observed, namely, that PTSD and depressive symptoms first influenced each other and then that depressive symptoms predicted PTSD. The results of our study also suggest that females with poor parental relationships and a high degree of trauma exposure are more likely to require intervention.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in children after the Wenchuan earthquake

Cheng

Liang

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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“…Where girls tended to show more overall internalising problems than boys, they also showed a greater decrease in symptoms. Although one study reported that young traumatised girls exhibited somewhat more PTSD symptoms than boys [45], overall there seems no consistent evidence for gender differences regarding trauma reactions in preschool traumatised children [40]. The CBCL manual reports no general gender effects [30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between behavioural problems in preschool children and parental distress after a paediatric burn event

Bakker

Heijden

Son

et al. 2014

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry

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This study examines mother-and father-rated emotional and behaviour problems in and worries about 0-to 5-year-old children at 3 and 12 months after a burn event and the relation with parental distress. Mothers (n = 150) and fathers (n = 125) representing 155 children participated in this study. Child emotional and behaviour problems and parental worries about the child were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist at both time points. Parents' level of acute subjective distress was assessed within the first month after the burn event with the Impact of Event Scale. Mothers and fathers held comparable views of their child's emotional and behaviour problems, which were generally within the normal limits. Parents' own acute stress reactions were significantly related to parent-rated child behaviour problems at 3 and 12 months postburn. A substantial part of mothers' and fathers' worries about the child concerned physical and emotional aspects of the burn trauma, and potential future social problems. Parents with high acute stress scores more often reported burn-related concerns about their child at 3 and 12 months postburn. Health-care professionals should be informed that parents' distress in the subacute phase of their child's burn event may be related to subsequent worries about their child and to (parent-observed) child emotional and behaviour problems. The authors recommend a family perspective, with particular attention for the interplay between parents' distress and parent-reported child behaviour problems and worries, in each phase of paediatric burn care.

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“…One exception is Green, Korol, Grace and Vary (1991) who examined PTSD symptoms among 179 children (aged 2-15 years) two years after the Buffalo Creek dam collapse in West Virginia in 1972. They found fewer PTSD symptoms among the 4 to 7 years old children than among the older children.…”

Section: Empirical Studies Of Age In Relation To Ptsdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flashbulb memories and posttraumatic stress reactions across the life span: Age-related effects of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II.

Berntsen¹,

Rubin²

2006

Psychology and Aging

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A representative sample of older Danes were interviewed about experiences from the German occupation of Denmark in WWII. The number of participants with flashbulb memories for the German invasion (1940) and capitulation (1945) increased with participants' age at the time of the events up to age 8. Among participants under 8 years at the time of their most traumatic event, age at the time correlated positively with current level of posttraumatic stress reactions, vividness of stressful memories and their centrality to life-story and identity. These findings were replicated in Study 2 for self-nominated stressful events sampled from the entire life span using a representative sample of Danes born after 1945. The results are discussed in relation to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and childhood amnesia.Those who were children during World War II are now aging. Many of them still have vivid memories of bombardments, explosions, and gunfire against civilians. Some remember hiding, being incarcerated, being separated from their family, losing siblings or parents (Berntsen, 2005;Werner, 2000). During the World War II, more than 40 millions civilians were killed and more than 20 million children were orphaned (Werner, 2000). Even though World War II was the first war in history with more civilian than military losses (Werner, 2000), surprisingly few studies of posttraumatic stress reactions have been conducted on World War II survivors sampled from the general population (Bramsen & van der Ploeg, 1999). Most studies have concentrated on combat veterans, prisoners of war and concentration camp survivors (see Falk, Hersen & Hasselt, 1994, for a review). However, even among people who did not fight actively in the war, or who were not incarcerated, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms related to World War II may still persist (Bramsen & van der Ploeg, 1999).Since most WWII survivors who are alive today were children or adolescents at the time of the war, they offer an opportunity to examine how the development of life-long posttraumatic stress reactions may interact with the age of the child at the time of the trauma. Even though one might expect the development and life-long maintenance of such symptoms to depend at least partly on the cognitive and social maturity of the child at the time of the event, the empirical work on the development of PTSD in childhood has been highly limited (e.g., Salmon & Bryant, 2002). One aim of the present work is to help filling this gap in the literature. We use the term posttraumatic stress reactions when addressing our present work to emphasize that we do not examine PTSD as defined clinically. We do, NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript however, examine symptoms of this disorder as this disorder is described clinically (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Here, we examine posttraumatic stress reactions, vividness of traumatic memories associated with WWII as well as flashbulb memories for two key events as a function of ...

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Children and Disaster: Age, Gender, and Parental Effects on PTSD Symptoms

Cited by 545 publications

References 29 publications

Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in children after the Wenchuan earthquake

Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in children after the Wenchuan earthquake

The relationship between behavioural problems in preschool children and parental distress after a paediatric burn event

Flashbulb memories and posttraumatic stress reactions across the life span: Age-related effects of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II.

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