Recovery Michigan

A study from Hasbro Children's Hospital has found that nearly 50 percent of teens seen in the emergency department for any reason report peer violence and nearly 50 percent also report being the victims of cyberbullying. Almost one-quarter of teens in the emergency department also report symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, led by Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, shows that cyberbullying, physical peer violence and PTSD are common and inter-related, and that early identification and treatment are crucial.

Currently published online in General Hospital Psychiatry, the study examined 353 adolescents in the Hasbro Children's Hospital emergency department. Regardless of chief reason for emergency room visit, 23.2 percent of the teens reported current symptoms consistent with PTSD, 13.9 percent had moderate or higher depressive symptoms and 11.3 percent reported suicidal thoughts within the past year. The adolescents commonly reported physical peer violence (46.5 percent), cyberbullying (46.7 percent) and exposure to community violence (58.9 percent).

"PTSD in adolescents has been associated with long-term functional impairment, including poor physical health, academic failure and increased need for medical services," said Ranney. "But, despite the availability of effective treatment, PTSD is currently underdiagnosed, underreported, and undertreated, especially among children and adolescents."

The study found that the PTSD symptoms strongly correlated with a variety of co-occurring risk exposures, such as being a victim of cyberbullying or physical peer violence, exposure to community violence and alcohol or drug use. Few of the teens with PTSD reported receiving any mental health care in the past year.