Prevention and Early Intervention Programs for Children and Adolescents

This chapter provides an overview of basic concepts that lie in the pathway from traumatic stress to a broad range of clinical and life-trajectory outcomes, including characterization of the nature and role of a variety of mediating and moderating factors. Such intervening factors fall within categories of child intrinsic and child extrinsic features. The individual/family and community types of early interventions for children and adolescents after trauma are reviewed. Although many early interventions hold promise, a good deal more methodologically sound research is required to support their use across a variety of contexts. Increased knowledge of mediating and moderating factors on the outcome of trauma can inform development of improved evidence-based screening, clinical assessment, early and intermediate interventions, trauma-informed services for traumatized children and their families across stages of recovery, and public policy.