Traumatic Stress Research and Programs
In partnership with the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress (CPTS), CIRP members conduct traumatic stress research to help children recovery emotionally after injury. For over two decades, the Child and Adolescent Reactions to Injury and Trauma (CARIT) research program at CIRP has conducted studies examining the range of responses that children (and their parents) experience during pediatric injury recovery, including child and parent coping strategies.
Our studies have found that psychological distress, including symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), occurs in significant numbers of children and parents after unintentional injuries, interpersonal violence, and other difficult medical events.
Through the CARIT research program and CPTS, we contribute to an understanding of how children and parents manage the emotional impact of pediatric injury. Current efforts to address pediatric injury recovery focuses on sharing web-based resources for parents (www.AfterTheInjury.org) and clinicians (www.HealthCareToolbox.org).
Current Traumatic Stress Research Projects
- Current Areas of Pediatric Injury Recovery and Traumatic Stress Research
Child Trauma Data Archives
Our Center leads an international collaboration archiving and organizing datasets from around the world to advance understanding of how children recover after trauma and how interventions can help. The Prospective Studies of Acute Child Trauma and Recovery (PACT/R) Data Archive brings together datasets from studies that followed children after acute trauma exposure to track PTSD, risk, and protective factors. The Child Trauma Prevention and Treatment (CTPT) Data Archive will include datasets from intervention trials that evaluated prevention or treatment approaches to help children with acute or chronic trauma. By making data available to researchers around the world to conduct analyses across multiple studies and countries, the Child Trauma Data Archives have a continuing impact on child trauma research and treatment.
More than a dozen study datasets from the CTDA project have been published in the Child Trauma Data Collection at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), making these data even more accessible to qualified researchers for innovative re-use. Variables are harmonized across datasets to facilitate integrative cross-study analyses.
- CTDA 1004: Posttraumatic Stress in Youth Age 8 to 18 Seen in the Emergency Department for Violent Injury, United States, 1999-2000 (ICPSR 39170)
- CTDA 1005: Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Risk Screening in Children Age 8 to 17 Seen in the Emergency Department for Unintentional Injury and Their Parents, United States, 2003 (ICPSR 39173)
- CTDA 1008: Posttraumatic Stress in Children Age 8 to 17 Hospitalized or Seen in the Emergency Department for Unintentional Injury, United States, 2005-2006 (ICPSR 39182)
- CTDA 1009: Posttraumatic Stress and Depression in Adolescents Age 12 to 17 Seen in the Emergency Department for Violent Injury, United States, 2001-2003 (ICPSR 39195)
- CTDA 1010: Posttraumatic Stress in Children Age 6 to 16 Hospitalized for Accident-Related Injury and Their Parents, Australia, 2000-2004 (ICPSR 39198)
- CTDA 1013: Posttraumatic Stress in Children Age 6 to 15 Hospitalized for Traumatic Brain Injuries, Australia, 2004-2008 (ICPSR 39602)
- CTDA 1022: Posttraumatic Stress in Children Age 7 to 17 Seen in Hospital for Acute Injury, Australia, 2004-2006 (ICPSR 39196)
- CTDA 1032: Posttraumatic Stress in Children Age 7 to 15 Hospitalized for Burn or Traffic Injury and Their Parents, Switzerland, 2016-2018 (ICPSR 39197)
- CTDA 1036: Posttraumatic Stress, Appraisals, and Coping in Children Age 8 to 13 Hospitalized for Injury and Their Parents, United States, 2012-2015 (ICPSR 39433)
- Creating and Disseminating Traumatic Stress Information and Interventions
Trauma-Informed Care Approach and Training
Through the Center for Violence Prevention, researchers are developing and testing frameworks for a systems-based approach to trauma-informed care for those who work with children. The CVP team works with medical providers to develop and evaluate ways to incorporate prevention of traumatic stress and promotion of emotional recovery within pediatric medical settings. Learn more about trauma-informed care training efforts at CHOP.
Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress (CPTS)
The Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress (CPTS) at CHOP addresses medical trauma in the lives of children and families. The www.HealthCareToolbox.org website from CPTS provides a wealth of resources for healthcare professionals: a library of downloadable patient education handouts in English and Spanish for children, teens, and parents, and a set of interactive online courses in trauma-informed pediatric care that offer continuing education credit for nurses and psychologists.
Helping Parents Help Their Injured Child
AfterTheInjury.org is CIRP's award-winning website that helps parents help their children recover emotionally from an injury. Our team has evaluated the site's impact on parent knowledge, and we continue to develop and evaluate ways to ensure that parents find the website when they need it.
