Prevalence of PTSD in Children, Research Paper Example

The prevalence of PTSD in children within the United States is increasingly becoming a problem and concern. Because PTSD is caused by a myriad of factors, the prevalence of PTSD generally depends on the prevalence of the occurrence of such traumatic events throughout the course of a child’s life. Because as a child ages, they are exposed to a higher likelihood and more avenues for potential traumatic events, the prevalence of PTSD increases up the age groups in children.

As of 1995, a study by Giaconia, R., Reinherz, H., Silverman, A., Bilge, P., Frost, A. and Cohen, E. revealed a 14.5% of children who experienced considerable trauma in their lifetime experience posttraumatic stress disorder (Kilpatrick & Saunders, 1997). In 2004, a study by much higher rates of PTSD prevalence. In the study, Gabbay, V., Oatis, Silva, R.R. and Hirsch, G. found that 20-63% of children who survive maltreatment depict elements of PTSD. 12% of children who had fallen considerably ill also depicted elements of PTSD while 5% of children who survive disaster depicted similar or slightly different elements.

In 1998, a study conducted by Cuffe et al. depicted a 3.5 prevalence rate of PTSD in a sample of 490 children in South Carolina. The prevalence for girls was 3% while that for boys was 1% (Cuffe, et al., 1998). In 2010, a study by Merikangas et al. depicted a 4% lifetime prevalence rate of PTSD in children between 13 and 18 years of age. This study showed a higher prevalence rate in girls than boys. Girls generally depicted a 6.6% prevalence rate while boys had a 1.6% prevalence rate. The prevalence of PTSD increases with the ageing of a child (Merikangas, et al., 2010). This is because the older they get, the number of avenues through which they can develop PTSD increases. Over the years, the prevalence of PTSD as increased owing to this fact.

References

Cuffe, S. P., Addy, C. L., Garrison, C. Z., Waller, J. L., Jackson, K. L., & McKeown, R. E. (1998). Prevalence of PTSD in a community sample of older adolescents. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry, 37, 147-154.

Kilpatrick, D. G., & Saunders, B. E. (1997). Prevalence and Consequences of Child Victimization: Results from the National Survey of Adolescents. Medical University of South Carolina. National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center. Retrieved July 31, 2015, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/181028.pdf

Merikangas, K. R., Burstein, M. J., Swanson, S. A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., Benjet, C., . . . Swendsen, J. (2010). Lifetime Prevalnce of Mental Disorders in U.S. Adloscents: Results from the National Comorbidity Study-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry, 49(10), 980-989.