Lauren A Kalisch, Katherine A Lawrence, Kelly Howard, Soumya Basu, Belinda Gargaro, Kypros Kypriano, Megan Spencer-Smith, Alexandra Ure
{"title":"Recommendations Provided to Families of Neurodivergent Children with Histories of Interpersonal Trauma across Two Clinical Assessment Services within a Major Metropolitan Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.","authors":"Lauren A Kalisch, Katherine A Lawrence, Kelly Howard, Soumya Basu, Belinda Gargaro, Kypros Kypriano, Megan Spencer-Smith, Alexandra Ure","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00684-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00684-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite substantial evidence to suggest that neurodivergent children are particularly vulnerable to experiencing interpersonal trauma, evidence-based therapeutic guidelines for this group of children are lacking and best practice parameters have yet to be established. This study aimed to synthesise and describe recommendations provided by two specialist clinical assessment services within a major metropolitan children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia, to families of children diagnosed with autism and/or an intellectual disability who have experienced interpersonal trauma. Twenty-six assessment reports written between 2021-2022 containing such recommendations were analysed. While less than half of the reports (43%) provided recommendations intended to directly support the child's experience of interpersonal trauma, the majority (88%) provided 'indirect' recommendations that addressed other treatment targets known to benefit neurotypical children, or neurodivergent children without a history of trauma. Overall, these results shed light on the limited evidence-based strategies clinicians can reliably draw upon when working with this vulnerable population and reinforce the importance of developing empirically supported trauma interventions that are appropriate for neurodivergent children.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40653-024-00684-9.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"467-480"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130377/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Correction to: Families of Children/Youth with Complex Needs Before, During, and After COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions.","authors":"Kim Arbeau, Serena Atallah, Jeff St Pierre","doi":"10.1007/s40653-025-00685-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-025-00685-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40653-024-00676-9.].</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"515"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130358/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adversity, Trauma Symptoms and the Effectiveness of an Australian Individualised Developmental Trauma Intervention Program.","authors":"Pamela Smith, Sonia Sharmin, Dallas Ambry, Allison Cox, Erin Hambrick, Margarita Frederico, Holly Mosse","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00674-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00674-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study evaluated the effectiveness of a therapeutic intervention program Take Two; designed to address developmental trauma experienced by Child Protection clients in Victoria, Australia. Replicating a 2010 evaluation study of the program, we utilised a Time 1-Time 2 design to identify the impact of tailored Take Two treatments informed by the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics' (NMT™). Change in the overall sample was measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC; ages 8-16 years) and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC; ages 3-12 years). In addition, a sub-cohort of children with severe adverse infant experiences was identified using a developmental history of adversity tool; Part A of the Neurosequential Network's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT™) Metric. Treatment effects were also evaluated to determine the extent to which this potentially more vulnerable subgroup was improving. Significant improvement was found in the TSCC cohort (8-16 years) with effect sizes ranging from small to medium (<i>d</i> = 0.23-0.54) on TSCC sub-scales. The largest effects were found on Anxiety (0.54), which moved from sub-clinical to non-clinical. The TSCYC cohort (3-12 years) showed significant symptom reduction on all trauma scales with medium sized effects (<i>d</i> = 0.44-0.53), and the largest effect on Posttraumatic Stress-Total (0.53). In the sub-cohort experiencing moderate-to-severe adversity in infancy, effect sizes were small to medium (<i>d</i> = 0.15-0.59). Take Two interventions were associated with significantly reduced trauma symptoms even when children's adverse experiences in infancy were moderate to severe, highlighting the benefits of NMT™ guided systemic and individually tailored therapeutic interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"481-495"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130391/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fiammetta Rocca, Thomas Schröder, Nima Golijani-Moghaddam, Sarah Wilde
{"title":"Video Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) with Children and Young People who Witnessed Domestic Violence: A Naturalistic Single Case Study Series.","authors":"Fiammetta Rocca, Thomas Schröder, Nima Golijani-Moghaddam, Sarah Wilde","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00681-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00681-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigated the potential effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability, and putative mechanisms of change of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) delivered via videoconferencing with young people who witnessed domestic violence. A naturalistic, mixed-method, AB, interventional single case design was used. Five female adolescents aged 13-17 years were recruited from a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the United Kingdom and attended 4-10 video-sessions of the child-friendly NET protocol. Participants completed questionnaires assessing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), general psychological distress, and trauma memory quality, wore a heart rate (HR) monitor assessing habituation, and were offered a Change Interview. At post-intervention, three participants showed reliable improvement in PTSS, but only one showed clinically significant change. One participant also demonstrated reliable improvement in general psychological distress. Effect size estimates ranged from moderate to very large and indicated change in the desired direction for all but one participant; estimated effects for general psychological distress were more modest. Three participants showed reductions in trauma memory quality, indicating increased integration. Within-session habituation was observed for all participants with available HR data; between-session habituation was also recorded for two of them. The lifeline was mentioned as a helpful aspect of NET, the video delivery was considered both a barrier and a facilitator to engagement, and positive or mixed changes were reported by two participants. Future research with more control and larger samples is needed to answer questions on generality of findings and impact of online delivery; future studies may also include longer follow-up periods and investigate other outcomes. <b>Trial registration number</b> NCT04866511 (ClinicalTrials.gov).</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"447-465"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130420/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emerging Borderline Personality Features, Attachment Representations and Behavioral Dysregulation in School-Age Children.","authors":"Olivier Didier, Miguel M Terradas","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00678-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00678-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aims to shed light on the influence of insecure attachment representations on the presence of emerging borderline personality features (EBPF) in school-age children, and the role of these features in manifestations of behavioral dysregulation. The sample is composed of 116 children aged 7 to 12 (<i>M</i> <sub><i>age</i></sub> = 9.11; <i>SD</i> = 1.68; 47 girls) drawn from three groups: children under youth protective care (<i>n</i> = 35), consulting psychologists or child psychiatrists (<i>n</i> = 42), and the general population (<i>n</i> = 39). The EBPF were evaluated using the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children. Attachment representations were assessed using the Child Attachment Interview. The Child Behavior Checklist for youth was used to verify the presence of behavioral dysregulation. Analyses of variance indicate that the three groups differ in the insecurity of attachment representations and the extent of behavioral dysregulation, with children under youth protective care showing the highest levels and children in the general population showing the lowest. Children under youth protective care have a higher EBPF score than the general population. Regression analyses confirmed that more insecure attachment representations predict an increase in EBPF, while the latter influence the increase in behavioral dysregulation. A partial mediating effect of EBPF was found in the relationship between attachment representations and behavioral dysregulation. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a mediation trajectory between attachment representations, EBPF, and behavioral dysregulation in a sample of school-age children. These results are discussed with regard to their implications for borderline-to-be functioning.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"349-363"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12129881/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kristi L Perryman, Timothy T J, Hailey Thomas Frost
{"title":"The School Counselors Role in Supporting Teachers Working with Children who Have Experienced Trauma: Lessons Learned.","authors":"Kristi L Perryman, Timothy T J, Hailey Thomas Frost","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00680-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00680-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Teachers are dealing with the challenges of educating students who have been exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at an increasing rate (Brunzell et al., 2021; Mayor, 2021). Often their education has not prepared them for recognizing and mitigating the behaviors associated with ACE exposures. This article offers a review of current research regarding the role of the school counselor in supporting teachers. A case study provides insight into this support through a university partnership with a trauma-focused charter school. Suggestions are offered for teacher training and policy changes based on the author's experiences in working with a trauma-focused school. Specifically, there are many areas where school counselors can provide advocacy and support through efforts within their role in the areas of defining, managing, delivering, and assessing ASCA (2024). Partnering with a university can provide needed services for schools while simultaneously offering learning opportunities for students.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"265-278"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130425/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is Child Maltreatment Painful? An Exploration of Peritraumatic Pain in Child Maltreatment.","authors":"Noga Tsur, Carmit Katz, Nofar Shemesh","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00682-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00682-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Substantial findings point to the risk of chronic pain following child maltreatment (CM). However, a coherent explanation for the mechanisms underlying pain following CM is lacking. Although peritraumatic pain may encompass a significant role in these processes, a systematic quantification of peritraumatic pain in CM has never been conducted. This study was conducted to provide an initial exploration of peritraumatic pain characteristics in CM, and its links with CM characteristics, pain expression, and later posttraumatic outcomes. Two samples of adult CM survivors (<i>N</i> = 160 and <i>N</i> = 120, respectively) filled out self-report questionnaires assessing peritraumatic pain characteristics, CM characteristics, peritraumatic dissociation, and complex posttraumatic-stress symptoms (cPTSD). Peritraumatic pain was reported by 42.2% (76 participants) and 57% (69 participants) in Samples 1 and 2, respectively. While pain was most prevalent in physical abuse (90%), it was also prevalent in sexual (63%) and emotional abuse (37.5%; <i>X</i> <sup><i>2</i></sup> (3) = 14.65, <i>p</i> = .002). Peritraumatic pain was most prevalent when the perpetrator was a family member (<i>X</i> <sup><i>2</i></sup> (3) = 14.65, <i>p</i> = .002), longer CM duration (<i>p</i> < .001), and in fight-or-flight peritraumatic responses (<i>X</i> <sup><i>2</i></sup> (2) = 7.13, <i>p</i> = .028). Peritraumatic pain expression did not differ for CM type (<i>p</i> > .083), and most participants reported that the perpetrator ignored their pain (73.9%). Explicit and concealing expressions of pain were associated with later cPTSD symptoms (<i>p</i> < .047). The findings provide an initial understanding of peritraumatic pain characteristics and phenomenology, demonstrating that pain is a substantial constituent of CM experiences and potential posttraumatic outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"293-303"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130416/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Families of Children/Youth with Complex Needs Before, During, and After COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions.","authors":"Kim Arbeau, Serena Atallah, Jeff St Pierre","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00676-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00676-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, families with children who had complex special needs faced many obstacles and had less resources available to them. Little published research has described post-lockdown family functioning in clinical samples. The current study investigated caregiver well-being, family functioning, and child/youth symptomatology in three Canadian samples of families with children/youth who had pre-existing, complex, emotional, behavioural, developmental, and mental health needs pre-pandemic (clinic intake within 1 year prior to March 2020), COVID pandemic (clinic intake 1 year during societal lockdowns), and post-restrictions (clinic intake between summer 2022 and summer 2023). Cross-sectional archival data (<i>n</i> > 300 in each cohort) were compared from assessments completed by families as standard of care at a tertiary children's service agency. As predicted, the pandemic intake sample reported significantly more parental mental health challenges, stress, conflicts, and went on fewer recreational outings than the pre-pandemic sample. While parent stress levels and family outing rates in the post-restriction sample resembled the pre-pandemic sample, post-lockdown parental mental health symptoms, family conflict, and family respite levels indicate that families are still recovering. Child symptom levels were high in all three samples, likely a result of intake criteria at this tertiary mental health agency. Research recommendations are offered. Clinical agencies should be mindful that some families of children with complex needs may still be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic changes and consider using a family oriented, trauma-informed care approach to assess the effect of the pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"497-514"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130422/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sexual Violence Against Children and Youth with Disabilities: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Jorge Cardoso, Sara C Sousa, Telma C Almeida","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00679-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00679-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous research has shown that children and youth with disabilities have a higher risk of being victims of sexual violence than their peers without disabilities. However, robust evidence on sexual victimization processes remains scarce and often plagued by inconsistent findings. This review aimed to synthesize research on sexual violence of children and youth with disabilities, namely the rates of sexual violence, risk factors, and characteristics of victims, environment, and perpetrators. A systematic search was conducted using the EBSCO, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycInfo, and Sage databases. Twelve studies were included for review using PRISMA guidelines. Findings from this systematic review clearly showed that sexual violence is a serious problem for children and youth with disabilities and a widespread public health concern, particularly young girls and those with intellectual disabilities. Social isolation, care needs, dependence on others, environments with restrictive routines, relational inequalities, and belonging to a family with adverse or dysfunctional characteristics were the main risk factors highlighted by the studies reviewed. This review suggested that perpetrators of sexual violence are mostly male, namely professional caregivers, teachers, peers, and family members, with a great heterogeneity regarding the types of abusive behaviors and settings where they occur. To improve prevention and intervention strategies in the field of sexual violence against children and youth with disabilities, more research is needed, particularly on risk and protective factors, as well as on predictors of potential victimization.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 2","pages":"409-422"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130387/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adolescent's Mental Health in Context of Indirect Exposure to Terrorism: A Qualitative Study.","authors":"Sanam Younis, Humaira Jami, Fahad Riaz, Warda Saleh","doi":"10.1007/s40653-024-00675-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s40653-024-00675-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The escalating indirect exposure to terrorism through media has contributed to rising mental health issues among adolescents. The terrorist attack on Army Public School Peshawar (APSP) in Pakistan has received immense media coverage and the violence shown has touched the lives of natives. The current study adopts an Interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the impact of indirect exposure to terrorism through media-television and Facebook-on adolescents' mental health in relation to terrorist attack on APSP. Moreover, the effect of changes occurred in parents' behaviour and school settings after the stated terrorist attack were also considered. To gather data, six Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with adolescents (<i>N</i> = 45) who were enrolled in educational institutes far from the epicentre of the attack and came to know about the attack through media. Acquired qualitative data was subjected to thematic analysis revealing that indirect exposure to terrorism through media negatively impact the mental health of adolescents. Likewise, the abrupt changes in school settings and parental behaviour cause disruption in their immediate environment that further impacts their well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"18 1","pages":"151-165"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11910486/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143651200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}