Acute stress disorder in youth: a multivariate prediction model

There is little empirical support for the diagnosis of acute stress disorder (ASD) in children and adolescents. Most reports treat ASD as “provisional posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” (meaning that children evidence ASD on the way to a formal diagnosis of PTSD), while speculating on factors that might moderate or mediate the transformation of ASD into PTSD. This report briefly reviews the literature on ASD in the context of presenting a testable, multivariate model for understanding acute stress responses in youth.