PSTD in Children

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PSTD in Children

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental condition that develops due to exposure to traumatic events, such as natural disasters, accidents, suicide bombings, terrorist attacks, physical or sexual trauma, and violence (Kolaitis, 2017). Most people tend to encounter one or more of these potentially traumatic occurrences in their lives. However, since children are less capable of protecting themselves and have few coping mechanisms, they are more vulnerable to traumatic events compared to adults (Li et al., 2020). According to Li et al. (2020), a significant number of children who encounter traumatic events experience symptoms of PSTD, with roughly 20% to 30% developing the full disorder in the first six months. Research reveals that PSTD symptoms are expressed differently by different age groups (Pate, 2021). For instance, children below the age of 6 years express PSTD through sleeping issues and distress when they are not near their parents. On the other hand, children between the age of 7 and 11 express PSTD through sleeping issues, absenteeism in school, aggression, impulsive behaviors, or reenactments of their trauma through play (Pate, 2021). PSTD in children may last for years, augment the children’s risk of suffering from other related conditions, and impairs children’s psychosocial functioning in the future (Li et al., 2020). Therefore, there is a need for effective treatment and management of PSTD in children. This paper discusses effective intervention strategies for PSTD in children. Specifically, the paper discusses trauma-focused interventions since they are the most effective forms of psychological treatments.

One effective intervention strategy for PSTD in children is Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) (Cohen et al., 2016). This is an evidence-based therapy that assists children in dealing with the negative effects of trauma, including overcoming harmful behaviors and thoughts, processing their traumatic experiences, and developing appropriate interpersonal and coping skills. Also, TF-CBT entails a treatment component for parents and caregivers to best accomplish the treatment goals for children with PSTD. It allows parents to learn positive parenting, stress management, effective communication, and behavior management skills (Cohen et al., 2016). Usually, TF-CBT’s key components are represented using the acronym PRACTICE, where P stands for psycho-education and parenting, Relaxation (R), Affect regulation (A), Cognitive coping (C), Trauma narration and processing (T), In vivo mastery (I), Conjoint sessions (C), and Enhancing safety and future development (E) (Peters et al., 2021). Different therapeutic components are successively introduced into therapy by sequentially following the acronym along with appropriate clinical cautions. TF-CBT incorporates concepts from humanistic, attachment, and family systems theories. It incorporates cognitive therapy, which seeks to modify an individual’s behavior by changing the perceptions or thoughts of an individual, especially those that lead to inaccurate or unhelpful views of the world. It also includes behavioral therapy, which aims to modify habitual responses to non-dangerous circumstances. Family therapy investigates patterns of relationships among members of a family in order to discover and relieve difficulties. Lastly, the attachment theory stresses the importance of effective parent-child relations (Cohen et al., 2016). TF-CBT has been successfully applied across various settings, including home-based, residential, and hospitals, to treat PSTD among children (Peters et al., 2016).

Another effective intervention strategy for PSTD in children is mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Mindfulness entails the awareness of feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations as well as the surrounding environment (Zhang et al., 2021). Being mindful is characterized by being friendly, open, non-judgmental, kind, compassionate, and accepting. MBIs reduce PTSD by helping the patients to improve their capacity to differentiate between the past and the present. This allows them to minimize the re-experiencing PSTD symptoms (Li et al., 2020). Hopwood and Schutte (2017) further add that MBI provides training on decentering and accepting orientation towards experience. The authors further add that these interventions involve a series of exercises such as mindfulness application in daily situations to help the PSTD victims develop mindfulness capacity. This intervention also improves the victim’s ability to tolerate distressing thoughts, memories, and feelings. This allows children to avoid distressing memories. MBIs also involve training in relaxation and stress reduction (Li et al., 2020).

Lastly, art therapy is an effective intervention strategy for PSTD in children. Art therapy promotes expression and healing. Research reveals that dealing with traumatic memories may be overwhelming and tough and sometimes difficult to express in words (Li et al., 2020). Art therapy assists patients in safely accessing traumatic memory. Li et al. (2020) further add that children are often not in a position to give a detailed description of their traumatic event because of their poor language capacity. Consequently, this makes it challenging for healthcare providers to identify the best interventions for helping these children. In such cases, art therapy has been found to help ameliorate PTSD in children (Ugurlu et al., 2016).Overall, PSTD in children may have adverse effects, including increasing risk of children suffering from other related conditions and impairing their future psychosocial functioning. Thus, it is vital to effectively treat and manage PSTD among children. TF-CBT, which assists children in dealing with the adverse effects of trauma, including overcoming harmful behaviors and thoughts, processing their traumatic experiences, and developing appropriate interpersonal and coping skills, is the most effective intervention strategy for PSTD among children. Other effective intervention strategies for PSTD in children include MBIs and art therapy. MBIs reduce PTSD by helping the patients to improve their capacity to differentiate between the past and the present, while art therapy assists patients in safely accessing traumatic memory.

References

Cohen, J. A., Deblinger, E., & Mannarino, A. P. (2016). Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children and families. Psychotherapy Research, 28(1), 47-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2016.1208375Hopwood, T. L., & Schutte, N. S. (2017). A meta-analytic investigation of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on posttraumatic stress. Clinical Psychology Review, 57, 12-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.08.002Kolaitis, G. (2017). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(4), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2017.1351198Li, Y., Zhou, Y., Chen, X., Fan, F., Musa, G., & Hoven, C. (2020). Posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Some recent research findings. Psychosomatic Medicine. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92284Pate, K. M. (2021). Understanding Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children: A Comprehensive Review. Inquiries Journal, 13(02).

Peters, W., Rice, S., Cohen, J., Murray, L., Schley, C., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., & Bendall, S. (2021). Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) for interpersonal trauma in transitional-aged youth. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 13(3), 313-321. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001016Ugurlu, N., Akca, L., & Acarturk, C. (2016). An art therapy intervention for symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety among Syrian refugee children. Vulnerable children and youth studies, 11(2), 89-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2016.1181288Zhang, D., Lee, E. K., Mak, E. C., Ho, C. Y., & Wong, S. Y. (2021). Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review. British medical bulletin, 138(1), 41-57. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldab005