When Memories Become Malignant: An Update on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Children and adolescents are susceptible to developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has serious consequences for their emotional, physical, social, and cognitive development. Sources of traumatic stress in children are many, such as loss of a loved one, accidents, community or school violence, domestic violence, physical or sexual abuse, man-made or natural disasters, and terrorism. Due to the wide range of reactions seen in children according to their age and developmental levels, it is not possible to directly apply adult PTSD criteria to them. This article discusses issues related to etiology, assessment, and diagnosis of PTSD in children and adolescents. It describes the comorbidities and the neurobiological basis of PTSD symptomatology and critically evaluates current psychological and pharmacological treatments of PTSD in the pediatric population.