Three groups of 50 children aged between 7 and 12 participated in the study: a sexual abuse (SA) group, an orthopedic sample and a group of children from the community. Abused children exhibited more posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) type I and type II symptoms than children in the other groups at initial evaluation (just after the incident of abuse) and 6 months later. A change in the course of symptoms for three variables was observed for the three groups. Adjustment difficulties tended to persist between the two assessments for SA victims. These data support the idea that PTSD symptomatology is more prevalent in SA victims in comparison to children confronted with other stressors. The revised model used in this study allows a description of symptoms associated with stressful situations (with PTSD type I) and also provides a more global understanding of reactions related to sexual abuse experiences (with PTSD type II effects). The study emphasizes the importance of addressing PTSD type II effects such as anxiety and depression, aggressiveness, dissociation and avoidant coping strategies since they could have deleterious effects on children's development and eventually be incorporated into their personality styles. Table, figures, notes, references