Citation

Storr CL, Schaeffer CM, Petras H, Ialongo NS, Breslau N. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2009; 44(5): 398-406.

Affiliation

Dept. of Family and Community Health, University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Nursing, 655 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA, cstor002@son.umaryland.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00127-008-0446-6

PMID

19139797

Abstract

This study modeled children's trajectories of teacher rated aggressive-disruptive behavior problems assessed at six time points between the ages of 6 and 11 and explored the likelihood of being exposed to DSM-IV qualifying traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 837 urban first graders (71% African American) followed-up for 15 years. Childhood trajectories of chronic high or increasing aggressive-disruptive behavior distinguished males more likely to be exposed to an assaultive violence event as compared to males with a constant course of low behavior problems (OR(chronic high) = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.3, 6.1 and OR(increasing) = 4.5, 95% CI = 2.3, 9.1, respectively). Among females, exposure to traumatic events and vulnerability to PTSD did not vary by behavioral trajectory. The findings illustrate that repeated assessments of disruptive classroom behavior during early school years identifies more fully males at increased risk for PTSD-level traumatic events, than a single measure at school entry does.

Language: en