Exposure to complex trauma is a prevalent and costly public health concern. Though not yet included in the formal diagnostic systems, developmental trauma disorder (DTD) was proposed to capture the consistent and predictable emotional, behavioral, and neurobiological sequelae observed in children exposed to complex trauma. This systematic review synthesizes and evaluates the existing empirical evidence for DTD as a reliable, valid, distinctive, and clinically useful construct. We identified 21 articles reporting on 17 non-overlapping samples that evaluated DTD symptom criteria using objective, empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis, associations with other diagnostic constructs, associations with trauma exposure type, clinician ratings of utility). Studies were largely supportive of the DTD construct and its clinical utility; however, it will be crucial for this work to be replicated in larger samples, by independent research groups, and with more rigorous methodological and analytic approaches before definitive conclusions can be drawn. Findings from this review, while preliminary, provide a promising empirical foundation for DTD and bring the field closer to improving diagnostic parsimony for children and adolescents affected by complex trauma.

暴露于复杂的创伤是一个普遍且代价高昂的公共卫生问题。尽管尚未包含在正式的诊断系统中，但提出了发育性创伤障碍 (DTD) 来捕捉在暴露于复杂创伤的儿童中观察到的一致且可预测的情绪、行为和神经生物学后遗症。本系统评价综合并评估了 DTD 作为可靠、有效、独特和临床有用的结构的现有经验证据。我们确定了 21 篇文章，报告了 17 个非重叠样本，这些样本使用客观的经验方法（例如，因素分析、与其他诊断结构的关联、与创伤暴露类型的关联、临床医生对效用的评级）评估了 DTD 症状标准。研究在很大程度上支持 DTD 结构及其临床效用；然而，在得出明确结论之前，由独立研究小组在更大的样本中复制这项工作并采用更严格的方法和分析方法将是至关重要的。本次审查的结果虽然是初步的，但为 DTD 提供了有希望的经验基础，并使该领域更接近于改善受复杂创伤影响的儿童和青少年的诊断简约性。