Trauma and post-traumatic stress symptoms in former German child soldiers of World War II.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the study was to determine the amount of trauma impact and significant post-traumatic stress symptoms, which can indicate a possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in a sample of former German child soldiers of World War II.


METHODS
103 participants were recruited through the press, then administered a modified Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS).


RESULTS
Subjects reported a high degree of trauma exposure, with 4.9% reporting significant post-traumatic stress symptoms after WW II, and 1.9% reporting that these symptoms persist to the present.


CONCLUSIONS
In line with other studies on child soldiers in actual conflict settings, our data document a high degree of trauma exposure during war. Surprisingly, the prevalence of significant post-traumatic stress symptoms indicating a possible PTSD was low compared to other groups of aging, long-term survivors of war trauma. Despite some limitations our data highlight the need for further studies to identify resilience and coping factors in traumatized child soldiers.
Kuwert
Philipp
P
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Germany. kuwert@uni-greifswald.de
Spitzer
Carsten
C
Rosenthal
Jenny
J
Freyberger
Harald J
HJ
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D047789:World War II