Posttraumatic stress disorder in hospitalized adolescents: Psychiatric comorbidity and clinical correlates

Objective: To describe the diagnostic comorbidity and clinical correlates o f posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescent psychiatric inpatients . Method: Seventy-four adolescent inpatients were given a structured diagno stic interview, the revised version of the Diagnostic Interview for Childre n and Adolescents, and a battery of standard self-report measures to assess general trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, suicidal behavior, dissociation, and depression. Results: Ninety-three percent of subjects re ported exposure to at least one traumatic event such as being a witness/vic tim of community violence. witnessing family violence, or being the victim of physical/sexual abuse. Thirty-two percent of subjects met diagnostic cri teria for current PTSD, with sexual abuse cited as the most common traumati c stressor in 69%, of PTSD cases. Girls were significantly more likely to d evelop PTSD than boys, although the total number of types of trauma did not differ by gender. Compared with psychiatric controls. male youngsters with PTSD were significantly more likely to have comorbid diagnoses of eating d isorders, other anxiety disorders, and somatization disorder. Furthermore, male and female youngsters with PTSD were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide and report greater depressive and dissociative symptoms. Conclusion: In clinical populations of hospitalized adolescents exposed to multiple forms of trauma, PTSD is a common, but highly comorbid disorder. Specific multimodal assessments and treatments targeted to both PTSD and it s comorbidity profile are warranted.