Publication date: Jul 16, 2025

Disasters and public health emergencies raise child/adolescent risk for posttraumatic stress (PTS). This study examined prospective predictors of COVID-related PTS in a large sample of U. S. and Canadian youth. Demographics, pre-pandemic contextual factors, baseline clinical factors, and pandemic experiences were examined. We hypothesized pandemic proximity/exposure and pandemic-related financial hardship in the first seven months, as well as baseline resource insecurity, internalizing symptoms, and female gender, would predict subsequent COVID-related PTS. A prospective two-wave study of English- or Spanish-speaking youth ages 5-17 years (N = 1,413; 46. 2% female; 33. 4% racial/ethnic minority youth), and their caregivers, was conducted. The sample was recruited via crowdsourcing methods (e. g. existing community samples, advertisements, online recruitment). Data were collected via online caregiver-report surveys. Recruitment began 3/20/2020 (

Semantics

Original Article