The Sequelae of Psychological Symptoms Exhibited by Children Exposed to Trauma: A Developmental Perspective

Children who experience developmental trauma often exhibit a constellation of symptoms across several psycho-social-bio domains. This study explored the symptom clusters that school-age children and adolescents who have experienced maltreatment exhibit and whether these children/adolescents can be differentiated from those without trauma histories. Using data from the Child and Youth Mental Health instrument, exploratory factor analyses of clinical items were completed for children/adolescents who have experienced maltreatment. Six factors for children (i.e., dysregulation in cognitive processes, dysregulation in self-concept, externalizing behaviours, violent or high-risk behaviours, indicators of withdrawal and depression, and hyperarousal and anxiety behaviours) and 5 factors for adolescents (i.e., externalizing behaviours, affect dysregulation, substance use, withdrawal and indicators of depression, and hyperarousal and dysregulation in cognitive processes) emerged. Discriminant function analyses using factors scores accurately differentiated children and adolescents who have experienced maltreatment from those who have not, 61.5% and 63.7% of the time respectively