What is the youngest possible age for developing posttraumatic stress disorder? A systematic literature review

Due to growing awareness of post-traumatic reactions and development of treatments for young children (0-6 years), there is an increasing need for accurate assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If the youngest children cannot manifest PTSD due to still-emerging cognitive emotional abilities, then treatments relying on those abilities may be ineffective. The objective of this review is to systematically review the literature of detailed case reports to provide guidance on the earliest possible age when the developmental capacities needed for the development of PTSD have sufficiently emerged. Literature searches were conducted in PsycInfo and PubMed databases for children who experienced trauma prior to 36 months of age. This review identified 54 cases. Six cases showed potential to fulfill diagnostic criteria of PTSD for children 6 years or younger (PTSD-6Y) if reports were taken at face value. The ages of trauma ranged from 0 to 35 months, with the youngest age of trauma at 15 months. The reports of symptoms, however, often lacked verification by details and examples, placing the potential diagnoses in doubt. Recommendations for further research are offered for more comprehensive and rigorous interviewing techniques to validate possible diagnoses of children with PTSD under 36 months of age.