IMAGINAL FLOODING OF TRAUMATIZED CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

A considerable amount of research has been conducted since posttraumat ic stress disorder (PTSD) was included in the American Psychiatric Ass ociation's taxonomy of mental disorders. Despite this rapidly expandin g literature base, it must be acknowledged that the majority of these studies have involved traumatized adults. It is of interest to observe however that child-clinical investigators have made a number of theor etical and applied contributions involving the treatment of traumatize d youth. Whereas different treatment modalities have been applied with differential degrees of efficacy with traumatized youth, this article considers exposure-based interventions that have evinced efficacy ove r time. Adult studies are also reviewed as the child-adolescent litera ture has drawn from the adult literature and as comparatively fewer in vestigations have been conducted with traumatized youth.