Background: Young people often experience one or more traumatic events during their life. About 16% develops a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Whereas trauma treatments are effective, untreated PTSD has serious consequences for the psychosocial development. Adequate screening, correct diagnosis and treatment are very important.
Aim: To investigate current screening techniques and diagnostic tools and to study the effects of treatment on traumatised children en adolescents.
Method: In this article we discuss the results of several trauma studies that formed part of two recent successfully completed PhD programmes.
Results: The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) is a validated trauma screening tool. The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, Child and Adolescent Version (CAPS-CA) is a validated clinical trauma interview. Trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) are the treatments of choice for children and adolescents with PTSD.
Conclusion: The CRIES-13 is suitable for use in general care, whereas the CAPS-CA is more suitable for specialist care. TF-CBT and EMDR are the treatment of choice for children and adolescents with PTSD.