RESUMEN
Complex trauma (CT) is the experience, or witness, of prolonged abuse or neglect that negatively affects children's emotional and psychological health. Youth in residential care experience higher incidences of complex trauma than youth in community-based care, with notable gender differences and presentation of psychological symptoms. This study examined the effects of trauma-informed residential care and the relation between CT and gender. A sample (n = 206) from an evaluation of a youth psychiatric residential facility in the Midwest that transitioned from a traditional care model to a trauma-informed care model was used. A hierarchical regression was used to model the main effects of model of care, gender, CT, length of stay, and crisis response on treatment outcomes; and the moderating effects of gender and CT. The results support the high prevalence of CT in residential care populations. The final model explained 30.2% of the variance with a statistically significant interaction between gender and length of stay in treatment, indicating that longer lengths of stay in treatment are associated with less change in functional impairment for girls than boys. Youth gender and prior trauma are important factors to consider when monitoring experiences and treatment outcomes in youth residential care.
RESUMEN
The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) is a 90-item caregiver-report measure of childhood traumatic stress and abuse-related experiences in children, ages three to twelve years old. PURPOSE: The objective of this review is to examine the current empirical evidence (n = 22) regarding the psychometric properties of the TSCYC. METHOD: A variety of study designs were reviewed for psychometric evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the TSCYC. RESULTS: The psychometric evidence for the TSCYC indicates it is a reliable scale. However, evidence of validity is moderate and focuses on older children. DISCUSSION: Clinicians may utilize the TSCYC to support a PTSD diagnosis in children. Further psychometric exploration would strengthen the body of evidence for younger children (ages 3-5) who have had traumatic experiences.