Post-traumatic stress disorder and its treatment in children and adolescents.

This article reviews current concepts of and treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents. We discuss the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria and their applicability to children and adolescents. We also review the history of PTSD and the development of its diagnostic criteria. We present the concept of complex trauma and trauma's effect on the developing child and describe a new diagnosis labeled developmental trauma disorder that would better describe children and adolescents who have been exposed to abuse and neglect. Finally, we summarize psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacologic approaches to treating PTSD in children and adolescents. More research is needed on the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD in children and adolescents.