Sixty years later: post-traumatic stress symptoms and current psychopathology in former German children of World War II.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
The aim of the study was to determine the amount of trauma impact, post-traumatic stress symptoms and current psychopathological distress in a sample of former German children of World War II.

METHODS:
93 participants were recruited through the local press, and assessed using the modified Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R).

RESULTS:
Subjects reported a high qualitative and quantitative degree of trauma exposure. 13.8% reported PTSD-related symptoms after the war, and 10.8% reported current symptoms. PTSD symptoms after World War II were significantly correlated with current psychopathological distress.

CONCLUSIONS:
In line with other studies, our data document a high degree of trauma exposure during warchildhood. In comparison with other studies on PTSD in warchildren, there is a persisting high prevalence of war-associated PTSD symptoms in this sample. Despite some methodological limitations, our data underline the urgent need for further studies on the ageing group of former children of World War II.

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Author information

Author/s: Kuwert, Philipp (P); Spitzer, Carsten (C); Träder, Anna (A); Freyberger, Harald J (HJ); Ermann, Michael (M);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Greifswald, Stralsund, Germany. kuwert(-atsign-)uni-greifswald.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: International psychogeriatrics / IPA (Int Psychogeriatr), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Oct; vol 19 (issue 5) : pp 955-61

Dates: Created 2007/08/22; Completed 2008/01/25;

PMID: 17069665, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Age Factors
Aged
Child
Child Psychology
Female
Germany - epidemiology
Humans
Life Change Events
Male

Mental Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology
Personality Inventory
Prevalence
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Questionnaires
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology
Survivors - psychology
Veterans - psychology; statistics & numerical data
World War II

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