Behavioral aspects of trauma in children and youth

Abstract

Trauma is prevalent in the lives of children. It derives from many sources, and, depending on its characteristics, can produce transient or enduring and devastating consequences. Early trauma, if left untreated, can set the stage for chronic deficits in the behavioral repertoires of affected children, and thus shape personality development. Additionally, when trauma is repetitive and chronic, the developing brain may be affected in ways that impede otherwise effective intervention. Yet diagnosing traumatic stress in children requires a departure from exclusively adult-like considerations and attention must be devoted to the ongoing developmental processes. Trauma-associated clinical features in children are sharply distinct from those that are associated with adult traumatization and must be taken into account from screening and diagnosis through treatment and outcome evaluation. We suggest that a learning foundation for symptom development will best assist the identification and selection of efficacious treatments. Pediatricians should make use of validated screening procedures that effectively identify affected children to facilitate timely referral and ongoing monitoring of treatment outcomes for their patients. A representative list of such instruments can be found in Table 1. With respect to hospital-based trauma work, we suggest the following recommendations: Professionals must be alert to the presence of acute stress symptoms in any child or parent after all injury incidents. These symptoms may occur in any injured child regardless of age, gender, injury severity, mechanism of injury, or length of time since injury. Certain mechanisms of injury, (ie, pedestrian versus motor vehicle collision), place the parent at higher risk for symptomatology. All family members, including parents and siblings, must be considered at risk for acute and long-term functional abnormalities. It is important to educate patients and family members that acute stress symptoms are common after an injury incident and are likely to resolve as the patient's injuries heal. Yet despite this, before discharge from the hospital, parents must be taught to evaluate their traumatized child's behavior, as well as their own, for any evidence of posttraumatic stress disorder. Health care providers must anticipate potential strain upon family relationships and financial resources. Parent's posttraumatic stress symptoms may result in deterioration of their own ability to support their injured child. And finally, reassessment of patient and family members should occur within the first days, at 1 to 2 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year following injury to ensure proper recovery and optimization of psychosocial function.