CTDA 1008: Posttraumatic Stress in Children Age 8 to 17 Hospitalized or Seen in the Emergency Department for Unintentional Injury, United States, 2005-2006 (ICPSR 39182)
The objectives of the current study were to describe child post-traumatic stress (PTS), coping behavior, and parent coping assistance following a child's injury. The study enrolled children age 8 to 17 treated at the emergency department or admitted to the hospital for unintentional injury, and one parent per child. Children and parents completed measures of child PTS, coping, and coping assistance at 2 weeks post-injury and 3 months post-injury. The research team addressed these questions:
- What types of coping do children use following an injury?
- Is parent coping assistance related to child coping behavior?
- Are child coping strategies associated with PTS symptoms?
- Is early parent coping assistance related to later development of child PTS symptoms?
This study was originally conceived as a prospective randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of secondary prevention messages conveyed in printed informational materials (handouts and workbooks) for children and parents after pediatric injury. Children and their parents received 1 of 5 randomly assigned workbook sections (each addressing a different key theme). No differences were observed between groups for parent/child knowledge and beliefs about PTS and adaptive coping, nor in child PTS symptoms. Thus, data from all groups have been combined for analyses of prospective PTS outcomes and coping processes.
CTDA 1036: Posttraumatic Stress, Appraisals, and Coping in Children Age 8 to 13 Hospitalized for Injury and Their Parents, United States, 2012-2015 (ICPSR 39433)
Millions of children suffer unintentional injuries annually. While the majority display transient psychological distress, a significant minority develop significant, persistent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that are associated with poorer general health outcomes and impaired quality of life. Understanding variables that contribute to the development of PTSD is an essential step in identifying children at increased risk for PTSD and improving secondary prevention to reduce the incidence of PTSD in children following medical events.
The objective of this study was to examine the interplay of biological, psychological (cognitive appraisals, coping), and environmental (parent influence) factors during the peri-trauma time period as these relate to the development of child PTSD symptoms over time.
Children age 8-13 with a recent injury (within the past 2 weeks) and one parent / caregiver per child were enrolled during an inpatient hospitalization. At the time of enrollment, and again 6 weeks and 12 weeks post-injury, children and parents completed measures of cognitive appraisals, coping, coping assistance, and PTSD symptoms. A brief parent-child interaction task was completed at the time of the baseline assessment - data from this task-based assessment are not included in this dataset.