Stepped Care for Young Children After Trauma

Young children who are exposed to traumatic events such as abuse, disasters, accidents, illnesses, injury and the death of a person close to them are at risk for developing PTSD. While effective treatments for childhood PTSD exist, novel interventions that are more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective are needed to improve access to evidence-based treatment. The purpose of this study is to develop and test the feasibility of an intervention called Stepped Care Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which has the potential to greatly improve service delivery approaches to make treatment more accessible and less costly, thereby reducing childhood PTSD and related societal impacts and costs.

Inclusion criteria

• Child must have experienced at least one traumatic event after the age of 36 months.
• At least five Postttraumatic stress symptoms with one symptom of reexperiencing or one symptom of avoidance.
• Child must be between 3 and 7 years of age at the time of enrollment.
• The parent must be willing and able to participate in the treatment and complete informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Psychosis, mental retardation, autism, or related pervasive developmental disorders in child or any condition that would limit the caregiver's ability to understand CBT and the child's ability to follow instructions.
• Parent has had substance use disorder within the past 3 months.
• Child or parent is suicidal (the DIPA will be used to screen for child suicidal ideation and the SCID-RV will be used to screen for parent suicide ideation; assessed by all available information). A delayed entry once the parent or child is stabilized (at least 6 months post suicidal) and not having suicidal ideation will be allowed.
• Child or parent is not fluent in English.
• Child is currently taking psychotropic medication and is not on a stable medication regimen for at least 4 weeks prior to admission to the study. If appropriate, a delayed entry will be allowed so that once a child is on a stable dosage the child may be enrolled in the study.
• Child is receiving trauma-focused psychotherapy when study treatment is provided.
• Parent or caregiver who would be treatment participant was the perpetrator, or the child was perpetrated by a person who still lives in the home (e.g. mother's boyfriend, sibling).