It remains unknown whether peritraumatic reactions predict PTSD symptoms in younger populations. To prospectively investigated the power of self-reported peritraumatic distress and dissociation to predict the development of PTSD symptoms at 1-month in school-aged children.

A sample of 103 school-aged children (8-15 years old) admitted to an Emergency Department after a road traffic accident were consecutively enrolled. Peritraumatic distress was assessed using the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (range 0-52) and peritraumatic dissociation was assessed using the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ) (range 10-50). PTSD symptoms were measured at 1-month by both the child version of the clinician-administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-CA) (range: 0-136) and the Child Post-traumatic Stress Reaction Index (CPTS-RI) (range 0-80).

Mean(SD) participants’ age was 11.7(2.2) and 53.4% (n=55) of them were of male gender. At baseline, mean PDI and PDEQ scores were 21.4 (SD=7.8) and 19.2 (SD=10.2), respectively. At 1-month, mean self-reported (CPTS-RI) and interviewer-based (CAPS-CA) PTSD symptom scores were 23.2 (SD=12.1) and 19 (SD=16.9), respectively. According to the CAPS-CA, 5 children (4.9%) suffered from full PTSD. Bivariate analyses demonstrated a significant association between peritraumatic variables (PDI and PDEQ) and both CAPS-CA and CPTS-RI (r=0.22-0.57; all p< 0.05). However, in a multivariate analysis, PDI was the only significant predictor of acute PTSD symptoms (Beta=0.33, p< 0.05).

As has been found in adults, peritraumatic distress is a robust predictor of who will develop PTSD symptoms among school-aged children.