Childhood Trauma and Psychiatric Co-occurrence: A DSM-5 Cross Cutting Measure based Study

Childhood trauma has tremendous adverse effects and increases the risk of full range of psychiatric disorders. Categorical diagnoses can then miss out significant aspects of symptomatology, when diagnostic co-occurrence is a norm rather than an exception. This study examines the psychopathology in children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events using cross cutting measures. Data were collected from 50 children and adolescents, aged 8-16 years, at a tertiary psychiatric hospital in eastern part of India. MINI-KID interview and TESI-C were used to assess presence of significant trauma and psychopathology type. The Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure (based on DSM-5), consisting of 13 psychiatric domains was used. Results reveal that children and adolescents had moderate level of dysfunction with regard to symptomatology of depression, anger, anxiety, somatic, sleep problem and memory/inattention, whether or not they meet the diagnostic criteria. A vast majority had more than 5 cross cutting symptoms in moderate to severe intensity, regardless of the gender. The study highlights the need for comprehensive assessment of children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events. This shall enable clinicians to individualize therapies for better healing of children/adolescents. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.