The suppression of reexperiencing: Impulse control and somatic symptoms in children following traumatic exposure

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Abstract
This study examines the relationship between reexperiencing phenomena and symptoms of arousal following exposure to traumatic events. For a sample of 51 Kuwaiti children exposed to the Gulf Crisis, administration of the Children's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (CPTSD-RI) demonstrated that, within severity levels of traumatic response, there was an inverse relationship between reexperiencing and arousal symptoms, including problems with impulse control and somatic complaints. Although adolescents had higher levels of difficulty with impulse control following the crisis, the inverse relationship between reexperiencing and problems with impulse control was present even after partialling out the effects of age. Kuwaiti children who reported problems with impulse control were more likely to have been involved in agression toward others during the Iraqi occupation. This study lends credence to the hypothesis that the suppression of reexperiencing phenomena in children may result in increased difficulties with impulse control and increased somatic complaints.

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