Citation

Sprang G, Staton-Tindall M, Clark J. J. Trauma. Stress 2008; 21(3): 333-339.

Affiliation

Center for the Study of Violence Against Children, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20330

PMID

18553419

Abstract

This study examines the differences in trauma exposure and the response to those events between drug endangered children (DEC) and non-drug endangered children involved in the child welfare system. This data represents the experiences of 1,127 children randomly selected from the state's child protective service database and represents 20% of all open cases during 2005-2006. Archival data were analyzed to determine the presence of exposure using DSM-IV-TR posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Criterion A1, and whether or not the child's response to exposure met PTSD Criterion A2. Results reveal high rates of trauma exposure in the DEC group and indicate that trauma exposure and trauma response did significantly vary across groups. Implications for the assessment and treatment of child welfare-involved children are drawn.

Language: en