POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS - COMMENTARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Developments related to understanding the etiology, diagnosis, assessm ent, and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents are noteworthy over the past decade. Diagnosis, asses sment, and treatment of PTSD among school-aged children and adolescent s is a growing concern for school psychologists. With increasing level s of environmental stress and violence in school and community setting s, school psychologists on expect to encounter children and their adul t care-providers whom have experienced extreme trauma and whom may dev elop PTSD (Motta, 1995). The mini-series edited by Philip Saigh extend s our knowledge of PTSD in several domains including contributions to understanding etiology, assessment, as well as treatment In this brief response I provide some commentary that hopefully will influence the direction of future research priorities on this childhood disorder.