Children

Issues unique to children

• Children can experience many of the same traumatic experiences that adults do. One area that may be somewhat unique to children is that they may experience medical procedures as traumatic, where adults may be less likely to do so. Natural disasters, depending upon their direct effects on the family home and health, may be more traumatic for children than adults.

• Reactions to traumatic events in children can differ from adults. For example, they are more likely to exhibit behavior problems such as defiance, aggression, and regression, as well as withdrawal and decreases in attention or concentration that can affect school work. “Acting out,” by engaging in drug and alcohol use or sexually inappropriate behavior, may occur in older children.

• Children may have difficulty describing traumatic events (e.g. assault) and may have difficulty describing their emotional reactions, or associating symptoms with the stressful event. Therefore, assessment and diagnosis can be more challenging in children than in adults.

• Parental responses to a traumatic event are among the strongest protective factors against the development of PTSD in children. Parental support and lower levels of parental distress are associated with less severe symptoms and lower risk of developing PTSD.

Links and Resources

For a comprehensive list of resources on children and trauma, click below and enter “children” into the search box: http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/doclist.jsp

A document on how to talk to traumatized children at home:

• Please click here for an informational packet from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)