CTDA 1036: Posttraumatic Stress, Appraisals, and Coping in Children Age 8 to 13 Hospitalized for Injury and Their Parents, United States, 2012-2015

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.