Reliability of the GAF and CGAS with children exposed to trauma

Abstract

The latest data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System indicates that an estimated 872,000 children in the United States were victims of abuse or neglect in the year 2004 (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). The physical and mental health consequences of recurrent, often parent-inflicted, child maltreatment are substantial (DosReis, Zito, Safer, & Soeken, 2001; Dube et al., 2003; Felitti et al., 1998). Sequelae of maltreatment have been described as “an environmentally induced complex developmental disorder” (De Bellis, 2001) that may extend beyond posttraumatic stress disorder