Premium
Innovations in Practice: Preliminary evidence for effective family engagement in treatment for child traumatic stress–trauma systems therapy approach to preventing dropout
Author(s) -
Saxe Glenn N.,
Heidi Ellis B.,
Fogler Jason,
Navalta Carryl P.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
child and adolescent mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1475-3588
pISSN - 1475-357X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2011.00626.x
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , traumatic stress , clinical psychology , aggression , dropout (neural networks) , posttraumatic stress , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , machine learning , computer science
Background: This study aimed to obtain preliminary evidence for the extent to which a novel intervention embedded within a systems‐oriented treatment model [trauma systems therapy (TST)] engages and retains traumatized children and their families in treatment. Method: Twenty youth who had prominent symptoms of posttraumatic stress were randomly assigned to receive TST or care as usual (CAU). Results: At the 3‐month assessment, 90% of TST participants were still in treatment, whereas only 10% of CAU participants remained. Within‐group analyses of TST participants demonstrated significant reductions in posttraumatic stress and aggression as well as a slight improvement in home safety. Conclusions: These preliminary findings point to the need to utilize effective engagement approaches to retain traumatized children and their families in treatment.