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Cited by 26Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchChild Abuse and TraumaChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Measurement Issues: Measurement of posttraumatic stress disorder in children and young people—Lessons from research and practice

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Leigh, Eleanor, Yule, William, Smith, Patrick·2016·Child and Adolescent Mental Health
DOI 10.1111/camh.12124
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many young people are exposed to traumatic events and a significant minority of these individuals will go on to experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Valid and reliable measurement tools for assessing PTSD are essential and can aid screening, clinical diagnosis, treatment planning and outcome monitoring. METHODS: This article outlines the range of instruments available for these aspects of measurement, including assessment of PTSD in very young children, with a focus on those scales with good clinical utility and sound psychometric properties. FINDINGS: This is a particularly challenging time for clinicians working with children and young people with PTSD: all instruments will need to be revised and updated in order to better reflect the recent revisions to the diagnostic criteria for PTSD with the publication of the DSM-5 and no doubt the anticipated ICD-11. Despite this, measurement tools can still play a vital role in assessing PTSD in children and young people.

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  • A situation may not be particularly violent, threatening, or traumatizing to adults, but can still cause significant trauma to children.

    “A situation may not be particularly violent, threatening, or traumatizing to adults, but it can still cause significant trauma to children, such as when they are disoriented in a crowd of strangers or when they are sexually touched [16,19,20,21].”

    From Clinical Efficacy of Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Analysis. (2024) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Introduction says that potentially traumatic events, including sexual abuse, can lead to persistent mental health problems in children and adolescents. The Parent-report measures section also reports elevated symptom scores after adverse events such as divorce. Neither passage compares children's reactions with adults' reactions or mentions being disoriented in a crowd of strangers. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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1 of the 110 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press.
  2. Gilbert, A.M. (2004). Psychometric properties of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. San Diego, CA: Alliant University.
  3. Harrington, T. (2009). The clinician-administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents: A validation study. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering, 69, 5028.
  4. Kassam-Adams, N., & Winston, F.K. (2004). Predicting child PTSD: The relationship between ASD and PTSD in injured children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adoles- cent Psychiatry, 43, 403-411.
  5. Scheeringa, M.S. (2011). PTSD in children younger than age of 13: Towards a developmentally sensitive diagnosis. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 4, 181-197.
  6. Yule, W. (1997). Anxiety, Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress in Childhood. In I. Sclare (Ed.), Child psychology portfolio. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.

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Authors
Leigh, E., Yule, W., & Smith, P.
Affiliations
King's College London (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-10-17
Volume
21
Issue
2
Pages
124-135
ISSN
  • 1475-357X (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-3588
DOI
10.1111/camh.12124
OpenAlex
W2130043630
Cited by
26
References
110
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5
FWCI
2.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
post-traumatic stress disorder, children, youth, psychometric properties, screening, diagnosis, outcome monitoring, DSM-5, ICD-11, diagnostic criteria revision, trauma exposure

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