Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are relatively common following pediatric traumatic injury and are related to poor long-term child outcomes. However, due to concerns regarding the efficacy of early child preventive interventions, and difficulty intervening with injured and medicated children soon after the event, it is not feasible to provide early psychological interventions to children exposed to traumatic injury. Parental PTSD symptoms and reactions to the child’s traumatic injury impact child outcomes and provide potential targets for early intervention to reduce child symptom development without involving the child. The authors conducted a review of the literature using Psycinfo and Pubmed research databases (publication years = 1990–2017) and identified 65 published studies relevant to the topic of the review. The present review considers parent factors [parenting styles, parental post-traumatic pathology (PTS), adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies, and communication regarding the traumatic injury] and their impact on child PTS. We focus specifically on factors amenable to intervention. We further review moderators of these relationships (e.g., child age and gender, parent gender) and conclude that it is unlikely that a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment will be successful. Rather, it is necessary to consider the age and gender of parent child dyads in designing and providing targeted interventions to families following the traumatic injury of a child.
Highlights
Prior investigations of pediatric traumatic injury patients have reported relatively high rates of post-traumatic stress and comorbid behavioral and emotional disorders (Daviss et al, 2000; Winston et al, 2002; Landolt et al, 2003)
As mentioned, existing screeners aimed at identifying at-risk children following an injury are relatively poor and are not clearly identifying children in need of early intervention
The fact that interventions with recently seriously injured children are logistically difficult, we propose that early parental interventions may be an efficacious way of impacting child PTS following a traumatic injury
Summary
Prior investigations of pediatric traumatic injury patients have reported relatively high rates of post-traumatic stress and comorbid behavioral and emotional disorders (Daviss et al, 2000; Winston et al, 2002; Landolt et al, 2003). One factor that must be taken into account in child trauma studies is the influence of family factors and parental responses to a child’s trauma on a child’s recovery (Bowlby, 1969; Rolland, 1994). Parents or guardians of children exposed to traumatic injury are likely as the child, if not more so, to develop PTS in response to their child’s injury, and parent reactions can impact the child’s symptoms and recovery (Landolt et al, 2003; Nugent et al, 2007; Cox et al, 2008). The present paper will review literature examining parental factors (parental PTS, parental coping, and household communication regarding the event) and their influence on the development of PTS– in child injury survivors. We will consider parent and child demographic variables (age and gender) that may interact with the abovementioned factors in order to impact child recovery
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