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Hitchcock, Caitlin, Goodall, Benjamin, Sharples, Olivia, Meiser-Stedman, Richard 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0262-623X, Watson, Peter, Ford, Tamsin and Dalgleish, Tim
(2021)
Population prevalence of the posttraumatic stress disorder subtype for young children in nationwide surveys of the British general population and of children-In-care.
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 60 (10).
pp. 1278-1287.
ISSN 0890-8567
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PDF (Hitchcock 2021 JAACAP, PTSD subtype Young Children in Nationwide Surveys of UK General Population & Children in Care, final)
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Abstract
Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that when left untreated can have severe lifelong consequences for psychological, social, and occupational functioning. Initial conceptualizations of PTSD were centered on adult presentations. However, the instantiation of developmentally appropriate PTSD in young children (PTSD-YC) criteria, tailored to preschool (6 years old and younger) children, represents an important step toward identifying more young children experiencing distress. This study explored population-level prevalence of PTSD-YC indexed via an alternative algorithm for DSM-IV PTSD (AA-PTSD). Method: Representative population data were used to test whether application of AA-PTSD criteria, relative to the DSM-IV PTSD algorithm, increased identification of 5- to 6-year-old children with clinical needs in both the general population (n = 3,202) and among looked after children (ie, in Britain, foster children are called looked after children [more commonly referred to as children in care].) (n = 137), in whom the risk of mental health issues is greater. Results: Notably, no 5- to 6-year-old children in the general population sample were diagnosed with PTSD using adult-based DSM-IV criteria. In contrast, AA-PTSD prevalence was 0.4% overall, rising to 5.4% in trauma-exposed children. In looked after children, overall PTSD prevalence rose from 1.2% when applying adult-based DSM-IV criteria to 14% when using AA-PTSD criteria. Of trauma-exposed looked after children, 2.7% met criteria for DSM-IV PTSD compared with 57.0% when applying AA-PTSD criteria. In both samples, use of the alternative algorithm to index PTSD-YC criteria markedly increased identification of children experiencing functional impairment owing to symptoms. Conclusion: Results demonstrate the utility of the PTSD-YC diagnosis beyond at-risk and treatment-seeking samples. Use of PTSD-YC criteria substantially improves identification of 5- to 6-year-old children burdened by PTSD at the population level.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ptsd,ptsd in young children,epidemiology,preschool,prevalence,developmental and educational psychology,psychiatry and mental health,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200/3204 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Mental Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Mar 2021 00:42 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Oct 2023 02:55 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/79403 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.12.036 |
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