POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH HISTORY, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA AND ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS

Children and adolescents present a vulnerable group for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after stressful and traumatic events. However, it is evident that the traumatic event is important but insufficient factor for PTSD development in trauma exposure in identical circumstances, and that there are other,indirect factors important for the occurence and maintenance of the disorder in children and adolescents. It is a complex interplay of external events and inner psychological and physiological reactibility, vulnerability and resilience, and external psychosocial support. Statistics confirms that the prevalence is significantly higher in the circumstances of war and conflicts, where children and adolescents are the direct victims or witnesses to the violence. Risk factors for PTSD, as well as pathogenesis are widely understood, but it is still unclear what are the key differences that lead to this disorder in some people, and not in everyone in the same traumatic circumstances. Acta Medica Medianae 2017;56(2):57-63.