Dysfunctional Posttraumatic Cognitions in Children and Adolescents
Condition: Motor Vehicle Accident; Burns
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological consequences of motor vehicle
      accidents and burn accidents in 7-18 years old children and adolescents. The impact of
      posttraumatic cognitions on developing psychological symptoms are of particular interest.
    

Detailed description: 
      Background: Dysfunctional trauma-related cognitions play an important role in the aftermath
      of a traumatic event. Children and adolescents, who think that the experienced trauma has a
      permanent and disturbing impact on their actual life and their future, feel threatened. Study
      results show that dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions correlate highly with posttraumatic
      stress symptoms (PTSS), depression, and anxiety. In addition, children and adolescents with a
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have significantly more dysfunctional trauma-related
      cognitions than those without PTSD. Especially for children and adolescents it is important
      to consider interacting developmental and environmental factors. A developmental approach,
      nevertheless, has not been investigated yet.

      Aims: The aims of the proposed study are to achieve a better understanding of dysfunctional
      trauma-related cognitions considering child and environmental factors in a cross-sectional
      and a longitudinal design.

      Method: The sample consists of two different subsamples: 1) A hospital sample consisting of
      children and adolescents (school age: 7-18 years), who experienced an accidental trauma
      (either acute traffic accident or burn injury) assessed at three times: in the acute phase
      (7-14 days), 3 months, and 6 months after the trauma occurred. 2) An already existing
      clinical sample of 159 children and adolescents (TreatChildTrauma study), who mostly
      experienced an interpersonal trauma such as sexual or physical abuse. The total sample will
      be used to investigate the impact of child and environmental factors including trauma type,
      trauma frequency, age, gender, risk status pre trauma (psychopathological status pre trauma
      and traumatic events pre trauma), psychopathological status post trauma, and parental
      trauma-related cognitions. In addition, the hospital sample will be used for assessing the
      naturalistic time course of dysfunctional trauma-related cognitions as well as the
      association between cognitions, PTSS, depression, and anxiety over time. Moreover, the
      association between parental dysfunctional trauma-related cognitions and altered parenting as
      well as their impact on the child's cognitions will be investigated.

      Relevance: Dysfunctional trauma-related cognitions have an important impact on coping with a
      traumatic event in childhood and adolescence. Nevertheless, no study has investigated the
      interaction between several child and environmental factors so far. A gain of knowledge in
      this area is important to improve treatments of trauma-related disorders.
    

Observational model: Case-Only
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Children and adolescents (ages 7-18 years), who experienced an accidental trauma (either
        traffic accident or burn accident) and at least one parent.
      
Keywords: accidents; adolescents; children; posttraumatic cognitions