Traumatic events include sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, community and school violence, medical trauma, motor vehicle accidents, acts of terrorism, war experiences, natural and human-made disasters, suicides, and other traumatic losses. According to the American Psychological Association, in community samples, more than two thirds of children report experiencing a traumatic event by age 16. However, estimates of trauma exposure rates and subsequent psychological sequelae among children and youth have varied depending on the type of sample, type of measure, informant source, and other factors.
Estimated rates of witnessing community violence range from 39% to 85% — and estimated rates of victimization go up to 66%.
Rates of youths’ exposure to sexual abuse, another common trauma, are estimated to be 25 to 43%.
Rates of youths’ exposure to disasters are lower than for other traumatic events, but when disasters strike, large proportions of young people are affected, with rates varying by region and type of disaster. Children and adolescents have likely comprised a substantial proportion of the nearly 2.5 billion people affected worldwide by disasters in the past decade.
What are some symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
PTSD includes experiencing recurrent nightmares, distressing
recollections of the abuse/traumatic incident, intense psychological
distress at exposure to cues symbolizing the event,
persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the
trauma, persistent symptoms of increased arousal,
and the disturbance causes clinically significant
distress and impairment.
Not everyone who experiences trauma has PTSD. PTSD needs to be diagnosed by a mental health professional.
