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Sixty years later: post-traumatic stress symptoms and current psychopathology in former German children of World War II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2006

Philipp Kuwert ,
Carsten Spitzer ,
Anna Träder ,
Harald J. Freyberger  and
Michael Ermann
Philipp Kuwert
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Germany The Munich War Childhood Project, Munich, Germany
Carsten Spitzer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Germany
Anna Träder
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Germany The Munich War Childhood Project, Munich, Germany
Harald J. Freyberger
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Germany
Michael Ermann
Affiliation:
The Munich War Childhood Project, Munich, Germany Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich, Germany
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Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the amount of trauma impact, post-traumatic stress symptoms and current psychopathological distress in a sample of former German children of World War II.

Methods: 93 participants were recruited through the local press, and assessed using the modified Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R).

Results: Subjects reported a high qualitative and quantitative degree of trauma exposure. 13.8% reported PTSD-related symptoms after the war, and 10.8% reported current symptoms. PTSD symptoms after World War II were significantly correlated with current psychopathological distress.

Conclusions: In line with other studies, our data document a high degree of trauma exposure during warchildhood. In comparison with other studies on PTSD in warchildren, there is a persisting high prevalence of war-associated PTSD symptoms in this sample. Despite some methodological limitations, our data underline the urgent need for further studies on the ageing group of former children of World War II.

Keywords

war childhoodwar traumapost-traumatic stress disorderPDSSCL-90-R
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 19 , Issue 5 , October 2007 , pp. 955 - 961
Copyright
International Psychogeriatric Association 2006

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