PTSD in children and adolescents following war.

Author: Fayyad, J., Karam, É.G.,Karam, A.N.,Tabet, C.C., Mneimneh, Z., Ghosn, M.

Source:
In: 306-352; Silva, Raul R (ed.). Posttraumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents: handbook; New York: Norton; 2004
In this chapter, we will review and discuss findings from the recent literature and from our own study of Lebanese children and adolescents traumatized by war. We will address issues pertaining to measurement of exposure to war trauma and its relationship to PTSD. We will examine the prevalence of PTSD in children and adolescents after war and what we know about its outcome over time. In addition, we will examine what we know about risk and protective factors for PTSD after war and whether it is meaningful to identify subjects with subsyndronic PTSD and comorbid conditions. Since children who are orphaned during war are traumatized twofold, we will examine this special at-risk subgroup and the interplay of trauma and grief. Finally, as the issue of whether and when to intervene with psychological programmes continues to garner controversy, we will discuss our experience with group treatment community intervention and its outcome.