Stress-related disorders in African-American children

Open Access

Abstract

Children exposed to traumatic stress are vulnerable to a variety of stress-related disorders other than classical post-traumatic stress disorder. Several case histories are presented to illustrate some of the diversity of how traumatic stress may manifest in children. African-American children are the main focus of this article as political, economic, social, and morbidity and mortality indicators suggest that African-American children are at high risk for exposure to potentially traumatic stressors. Different presentations of traumatic, stress are discussed in an effort to broaden our understanding of the outcome of traumatic stress to fully help traumatized children.