Objective: To examine and identity predictors of acute stress disorder (ASD
) and ASD symptomatology (ASDS) in children hospitalized for injuries. Meth
od: Fifty-four youths were assessed while hospitalized for injuries. Depend
ent variables were parent and nurse ratings of children's ASDS. Independent
variables included children's prior trauma exposure and behavior problems,
injury severity and permanence, brain injury, injury or death to family/fr
iend(s), parental distress, and child reports of the injury/hospitalization
experience as meeting criterion A for ASD. Results: A total of 92.6% of ch
ildren felt the current experience met criterion A, compared with 64.8% of
parents. According to parent questionnaires, 4 subjects (7.4%) met DSM-IV c
riteria for ASD while another 12 (22.2%) had clinically significant but sub
syndromal ASDS. Children's ASDS, as reported by parents, correlated highly
with parental distress and ratings of children's prior psychopathology, and
modestly with injury severity and family/friend(s) injured or killed. Nurs
es' ratings of children's ASDS correlated strictly with injury- and acciden
t-related variables, and not with parent ratings of children's ASDS. Conclu
sions: Children perceive injuries and hospitalizations as stressful. ASDS i
s widely though divergently reported by parents and nurses in children hosp
italized for injury. Parental distress, children's prior psychopathology, a
nd injury-related factors may be useful predictors of children's postinjury
ASDS.