Enhanced screening for posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid diagnoses in children and adolescents

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a debilitating disorder and often co-occurs with other psychiatric disorders, such as mood, behavioral, and anxiety disorders. Early identification of PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity is highly relevant in order to offer children appropriate and timely treatment. The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) is a reliable and valid self-report measure designed to screen children for PTSD. However, this measure is not useful as a screen for psychiatric comorbidity in children with probable PTSD.

This study evaluated the screening accuracy of the CRIES-Plus, that is, the CRIES-13 combined with 12 additional items to detect psychiatric comorbidity.

The CRIES-Plus was completed by 398 Dutch children (7–18 years) exposed to various traumatic events. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child version.

Six additional items were significantly associated with mood disorders, three items were associated with behavioral disorders, and five items with anxiety disorders. Additional items associated with mood and anxiety disorders demonstrated good discriminatory ability, with cut-off scores of ≥14 and ≥10, respectively. Items associated with behavioral disorders had poor to fair discriminatory ability, with no clear cut-off point.

Our findings support the use of the CRIES-Plus to screen for PTSD and comorbid disorders which may help clinicians in assigning appropriate follow-up diagnostic and clinical care.