Peer-reviewed article
Reinforcing the new diagnosis of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (CPTSD) of ICD-11: exploring the clinical outcomes in youth exposed to complex trauma
Marques Feixa L, Romero S, Moya-Higueras J, Santamarina-Pérez P, March-Llanes J et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) in 187 youth aged 7-17 years who had experienced complex trauma. Youth exposed to complex trauma showed higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems compared to healthy controls, and those meeting CPTSD criteria had worse clinical outcomes including greater psychotropic drug use, more hospitalizations, and poorer overall functioning. The research supports including CPTSD as a diagnosis to help identify and treat traumatized youth more effectively.
Key points
- Youth exposed to complex trauma showed significantly greater internalizing and externalizing symptomatology than healthy controls
- Youth with CPTSD symptomatology reported these symptoms regardless of their primary DSM-5 diagnosis
- Youth meeting CPTSD criteria had greater use of psychotropic drugs, higher and longer hospitalizations, and worse overall functioning
- The study included 116 youth with current psychiatric disorders and 71 healthy controls
- Complex trauma was evaluated using TASSCV criteria and CPTSD symptoms identified through exploratory factor analysis
Limitations
The study reports preliminary results and does not specify the countries where the research was conducted. The document does not provide information about the nature of the complex trauma exposure, the specific interventions tested, or longitudinal outcomes.
Abstract
Introduction Youth exposed to complex trauma (CT) show an increased risk of psychiatric morbidity, including a wide range of psychiatric disorders. However, to date, there is no specific diagnosis in the DSM-5 that capture the clinical complexity of these patients. Properly, the last version of the ICD-11 includes a diagnosis termed Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), which considers the pattern of post-traumatic stress symptoms, plus life-impairing disturbances in self-organization (emotion dysregulation, negative self-concept and interpersonal problems). Clinical research about CPTSD, especially in younger population, is still limited. Objectives To explore the symptomatology of CPTSD in a sample of youth exposed to CT and its association with worse clinical outcomes. Methods 187 youth aged 7 to 17 years participated in the EPI_young_stress_project (116 with current psychiatric disorder and 71 healthy controls). CT was evaluated following the TASSCV criteria. To identify CPTSD symptomatology, we performed an exploratory factor analysis including CBCL and TEIQue items. The global level of functioning was measured by CGAS. Results Preliminary results pointed that youth exposed to CT showed greater internalizing (p<.001) and externalizing (p<.001) symptomatology. Regardless of their current primary diagnosis based on DSM-5, youth exposed to CT reported more CPTSD symptomatology (p<.001). Moreover, youth with CPTSD showed greater use of psychotropic drugs (p<.001), higher and longer hospitalizations (p=.002) and worse overall functioning (p<.001). Conclusions The inclusion of the CPTSD in future versions of mental disorders manuals should increase the implementation of early specific trauma interventions, which may improve victims’ lives and reduce the risk of worse clinical outcomes. Disclosure No significant relationships.