Service use typologies among trauma-exposed children: The roles of PTSD and dissociation



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Childhood maltreatment trauma is an important public health problem because it can result in posttraumatic psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation, along with other chronic illnesses. However, posttraumatic stress symptomatology is often missed or misdiagnosed in children, and there is poor consensus about diagnostic taxonomies for abuse-related posttraumatic stress. In addition, little is known about patterns of service usage for children with posttraumatic stress and best practices for service delivery for this population. The purpose of this secondary analysis project is to describe the prevalence of PTSD and dissociation and patterns of service usage for trauma-exposed adolescents (12-18) under the new DSM-5 posttraumatic stress diagnostic taxonomy which includes a dissociative subtype. A large national data set of trauma-exposed children from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network will be used for the analysis. This predoctoral fellowship dissertation project is the foundation for a long-term research trajectory on health service delivery for child survivors of trauma and violence, with an ultimate end goal of optimizing intervention service delivery and achieving better health equity for abused, neglected, and exploited children. The training plan for this project includes quantitative methodology, substantive content in child trauma and mental health, and academic researcher role attainment activities through interdisciplinary coursework, mentored training, research, community service, and writing.