Traumatology 18(4) 47–55 © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1534765612438947 http://tmt.sagepub.com An Analysis of the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale Ratings of Traumatized Urban Youth With and Without PTSD According to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, 1994), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is indi- cated by exposure to exceptional stress and trauma-related thoughts and nightmares, avoidance, increased arousal, irri- tability, social estrangement, and functional impairments. With reference to the prevalence of PTSD among youth, Kilpatrick et al. (2000) determined that 8%, 17%, and 39% of a large American community sample aged 12 to 17 years respectively reported that they had been sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, or had witnessed someone being shot, stabbed, sexually and or physically assaulted. This study also determined that 8.1% of the sample had PTSD at some time during their life. Similarly, Perkonigg, Kessler, Storz, and Wittchen (2000) assessed the prevalence of traumatic exposure among a representative community sample of German youth (age range 14-24 years). These authors reported that 21.4% of the respondents experienced one or more traumatic incidents and 7.8% met diagnostic criteria for a current PTSD diagnosis. Given the need to increase our understanding of how trau- matic experiences may influence children and the clinical need to identify measures that are sensitive to the expression of PTSD in children, several studies investigated the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS; Reynolds & Richmond, 1978) ratings of traumatized children and adolescents. Within this context, Saigh (1989) administered the RCMAS to a sample of Lebanese children who met cri- teria for PTSD or simple phobia and a nontraumatized con- trol group without phobia. Data analysis determined that the RCMAS total scores of the PTSD group were significantly greater than the scores of the phobia and control groups. Saigh also reported that the RCMAS scores of the phobia group significantly exceeded the scores of the controls. In a related study, Saigh (1991) compared the RCMAS total scores of Lebanese youth who developed PTSD following four different categories of traumatic events and a nontrauma exposed control group. The trauma categories included, (a) direct personal exposure to events that constituted threats to their own lives or their personal well-being (e.g., abduction or rape), (b) observing others who were exposed to life- threatening events or events that posed a threat to the well-being of others (e.g., witnessing an execution or tor- ture), (c) being told about an incident that constituted a threat to the lives or well-being of others (e.g., being told in detail about the death of a relative whose body was mutilated), and (d) combinations involving direct exposure, observation, and or verbal mediation. Saigh (1991) observed that while the 438947TMT XX X 10.1177/15347 65612438947Yasik et al.Traumatology 1 Pace University, New York, NY, USA 2 Columbia University, Teachers College, New York, NY, USA 3 New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA 4 UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA Corresponding Author: Anastasia E. Yasik, Department of Psychology, Pace University, 41 Park Row (Rm 1314), New York, NY10038 Email: ayasik@pace.edu Self-Reported Anxiety Among Traumatized Urban Youth Anastasia E. Yasik 1 , Philip A. Saigh 2 , Richard A. Oberfield 3 , Phill V. Halamandaris 4 , and Leah A. Wasserstrum 2 Abstract This study compared the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) scores of traumatized youth with or without PTSD to the scores of a nonclinical comparison group. Child diagnostic interviews identified children with PTSD (28), traumatized children without PTSD (63), and a nonclinical comparison group (41). In the absence of major comorbid disorders, children with PTSD had significantly higher RCMAS total scores and significantly higher scores on the RCMAS Physiological Anxiety, Worry/Oversensitivity, and Social Concern/Concentration subscales. Nonsignificant differences were observed between groups on the RCMAS Lie subscale. The RCMAS scores of the traumatized PTSD negatives and controls did not significantly differ. Implications for research and practice are considered. Keywords assessment, trauma, children