Scholarlink

<p>Children experiencing persistent posttraumatic stress symptoms can receive a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), opening the gate to trauma-focused services. However, many youths are undiagnosed due to complex presentations or because their stressor exposure does not meet Criterion A (“Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence…”; American Psychiatric Association, 2022, p. 302), despite impairing symptoms. The current study applies a novel, three-level framework based on increasingly strict stressor criterion to conceptualize stressor exposures and explore associated symptoms. We employed a convergent parallel, QUAL + quan design to analyze phone-administered baseline assessments of the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for 438 caregiver-youth dyads seeking treatment as part of a larger randomized controlled trial in U.S. community mental health clinics. Through framework analysis of assessor notes, the following theme developed: <i>Some stressor types do not meet Criterion A but are reported as significant stressors</i>. In the quantitative results, fewer stressors met the increasingly strict severity criteria; yet there were cases of elevated symptoms for non-Criterion A stressors (<i>n</i> = 149). Findings support applying a three-level framework to youth trauma exposures.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Beyond Criterion A: Employing a Three-Level Framework for Conceptualizing Youth Stressor Severity and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月30日

查看全文
  • Malena A. Nygaard,
  • Stephanie M. Hernandez,
  • Aaron Corn,
  • Srividya Mehendale,
  • Julie M. Petersen,
  • Sarah Kate Bearman

摘要

Children experiencing persistent posttraumatic stress symptoms can receive a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), opening the gate to trauma-focused services. However, many youths are undiagnosed due to complex presentations or because their stressor exposure does not meet Criterion A (“Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence…”; American Psychiatric Association, 2022, p. 302), despite impairing symptoms. The current study applies a novel, three-level framework based on increasingly strict stressor criterion to conceptualize stressor exposures and explore associated symptoms. We employed a convergent parallel, QUAL + quan design to analyze phone-administered baseline assessments of the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for 438 caregiver-youth dyads seeking treatment as part of a larger randomized controlled trial in U.S. community mental health clinics. Through framework analysis of assessor notes, the following theme developed: Some stressor types do not meet Criterion A but are reported as significant stressors. In the quantitative results, fewer stressors met the increasingly strict severity criteria; yet there were cases of elevated symptoms for non-Criterion A stressors (n = 149). Findings support applying a three-level framework to youth trauma exposures.