Exposure to Trauma Increases Child’s Risk of Developing Learning and Behavioral Problems

ADHD is not only an increasingly common diagnosis in general for children, but internationally adopted children get labeled ADHD quite often. This new study indicates that PTSD should be looked at rather than ADHD.

Childhood Exposure to Trauma Ups Physical, Mental Health Risks

[Psych Central.com 6/9/11 by Rick Nauert PhD , reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D]

Exposure to trauma should be a given for a child in an orphanage or foster care. Moving to a foreign country and immersed in a new language should be considered stressful. The treatment for ADHD and PTSD is very different. Prospective adoptive parents and adoptive parents need to be aware to have this condition looked at and consider having a psychologist (they are not physicians who prescribe medicines) look at the child first to see if behavioral modification would work before embarking on a drug regimen.

“Stanford University School of Medicine researchers said the findings could encourage physicians to consider diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder rather than attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which has similar symptoms to PTSD but very different treatment.

Investigators examined children living in a violent, low-income neighborhood and discovered an unexpectedly strong link between abuse, trauma and neglect and the children’s mental and physical health.

“Remarkable, researchers discovered that children experiencing trauma were 30 times more likely to have behavior and learning problems than those not exposed to trauma.”

“Carrion believes a physician unaware of the fact that a child experienced trauma, and noting the child’s physiological hyperarousability and cognitive difficulties, may diagnose ADHD instead of PTSD.

That’s a problem because the two disorders have opposite treatments, he said. Kids with PTSD need psychotherapy, not the stimulant medications given for ADHD.

“Children can recover from PTSD with the appropriate treatment, which is one of approach and not avoidance,” Carrion said. “By not asking about trauma, we’re utilizing avoidance. We’re perpetuating PTSD.”

Solution
“The Center for Youth Wellness will combine pediatrics with mental health services, educational support, family support, research and best practices in child-abuse response under one roof. With both public and private support, the center will coordinate the services of multiple agencies to give children a safe and accessible place to increase their resilience to adverse life experiences and improve their well-being.

“We need to create trauma-informed systems,” Carrion concluded, adding that the Center for Youth Wellness hopes to function as a model for such systems across the nation.

People working for the welfare of children need to be on the lookout for trauma and know how to intervene, and how to work with the family and with schools, he said. “If trauma goes untreated, it’s very costly for the individuals involved and for society in general.”

Ditto for children in foster care who are overmedicated.

This post will be updated with analysis of the actual study when it becomes available.

Two other studies about PTSD worth reading are the American Journal of Psychiatry 1999 study  and the Pediatrics 2005 study  .

 

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