This study aims to analyze the association between exposure to community violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by gender and age among children and adolescents of public schools in São Gonçalo-RJ. Three hundred and ninety-nine children and adolescents participated in this analysis (mean age 10.6 years; SD = 1.0). The prevalence of PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents is 9.5%, being higher among girls (12.6%) than among boys (6.5%). In the multivariate model, it is emphasized that children under 10 years old are twice as likely to develop symptoms of this disorder, than older ones; and the higher exposure to community violence, the emergence of PTSD symptoms is more likely.
Posttraumatic stress disorder; community violence; children; adolescents
