The child and family traumatic stress intervention: Factors associated with symptom reduction for children receiving treatment

Objective: We examine factors associated with changes in posttraumatic stress symptoms for children following completion of an early and brief, trauma-focused mental health treatment that engages children together with their caregivers, with the child as the identified patient.Method: The Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), a brief (5-8 session) trauma-focused mental health treatment designed to reduce trauma symptoms in the aftermath of traumatic experiences in children aged 7 years and older. CFTSI has been widely disseminated in Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) and community treatment clinics nationally. We report on results of a naturalistic treatment study of CFTSI implementation without a comparison group that in-cludes 1190 child caregiver dyads from 13 community-based clinical settings.Results: Mixed modeling revealed a significant reduction in child reported posttraumatic stress scores from pre to post-CFTSI. Scores on the Child Posttraumatic Checklist (CPSS) declined an average of 8.74 points from pre to post-CFTSI (p < .0001). There were no statistically significant differences in CPSS score changes based on age, gender, ethnicity, race, number of prior trauma types the child had experienced, caregiver posttraumatic stress symptoms, child relationship to the perpetrator, nature of event or length of time to begin treatment.Conclusion: This study provides further evidence that CFTSI can reduce child posttraumatic stress symptoms when implemented by community-based providers.

Automated summary

This study explores the effects of an early and brief trauma-focused mental health treatment on posttraumatic stress symptoms in children. The findings indicate that the treatment can effectively reduce these symptoms when implemented by community-based providers.