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Demographic, maltreatment, and neurobiological correlates of PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationships of demographic, maltreatment, neurostructural
and neuropsychological measures with total posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
METHODS: Participants included 216 children with maltreatment histories (N = 49),
maltreatment and PTSD (N = 49), or no maltreatment (N = 118). Participants received
diagnostic interviews, brain imaging, and neuropsychological evaluations. RESULTS:
We examined a hierarchical regression model comprised of independent variables including
demographics, trauma and maltreatment-related variables, and hippocampal volumes and
neuropsychological measures to model PTSD symptoms. Important independent contributors
to this model were SES, and General Maltreatment and Sexual Abuse Factors. Although
hippocampal volumes were not significant, Visual Memory was a significant contributor
to this model. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to adult PTSD, pediatric PTSD symptoms are associated
with lower Visual Memory performance. It is an important correlate of PTSD beyond
established predictors of PTSD symptoms. These results support models of developmental
traumatology and suggest that treatments which enhance visual memory may decrease
symptoms of PTSD.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdolescentChild
Child Abuse
Child Abuse, Sexual
Child, Preschool
Dominance, Cerebral
Female
Hippocampus
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Interview, Psychological
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory, Short-Term
Neuropsychological Tests
North Carolina
Organ Size
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Psychometrics
Socioeconomic Factors
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11289Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1093/jpepsy/jsp116Publication Info
De Bellis, Michael D; Hooper, Stephen R; Woolley, Donald P; & Shenk, Chad E (2010). Demographic, maltreatment, and neurobiological correlates of PTSD symptoms in children
and adolescents. J Pediatr Psychol, 35(5). pp. 570-577. 10.1093/jpepsy/jsp116. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11289.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Michael Damingo De Bellis
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
This author no longer has a Scholars@Duke profile, so the information shown here reflects
their Duke status at the time this item was deposited.
Donald Woolley
Higher Education Analyst II
Ph.D. Sociology, North Carolina State UniversityM.A. Sociology, University
of North Carolina at GreensboroB.A. Anthropology, Sociology, and History, University
of North Carolina at Greensboro
Alphabetical list of authors with Scholars@Duke profiles.

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