Trauma Symptoms in Preschool-Age Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

The posttraumatic stress symptoms of 39 children who had witnessed domestic violence and 23 children who were living in families with domestic violence were assessed by maternal report. Two measures of PTSD were used and compared, one based on the DSM-IV symptom list and one from the CBCL. Although all children had experienced at least one symptom of trauma, only 3% or 24% of the children, depending on the measure used, met criteria for PTSD based on the DSM-IV. Children with reexperiencing trauma symptoms also had more externalizing behavior problems. The applicability of DSM-IV criteria for young children and the use of the CBCL to assess trauma symptoms were questioned.