Article
Malignant Memories: PTSD in Children and Adults after a School Shooting

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Abstract

Sixty-four children and 66 adults were screened for post-traumatic stress disorder 6 to 14 months after a school shooting. Although there were no differences in overall frequencies of DSM-III-R diagnoses or cluster endorsements, there were developmental influences. Post-traumatic stress disorder was associated more with emotional states recalled from the disaster than with proximity. Emotional states mediated the formation of malignant memories leading to symptomatology, suggesting that postdisaster intervention be offered on the basis of degree of emotional reaction as well as proximity. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 1991, 30, 6:936–944.

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    Presented in part at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Chicago, October 27, 1990.

    Supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.

    The authors thank Kathleen Nader, Ira Sloan, Robert Pynoos, Lenore Terr, Ronald Rozensky, Peter Gorski, Donald Monroe, Bonita Sheldon, Pupil Services and school personnel, Harry Dillard, Eloine Plaut, and the children and parents.

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