Week 8, Assignment 2

I enjoyed writing the Literature review. I am glad I had completed the Annotated Bibliographies from last week. I feel they really helped me lay the foundation for this assignment. I did have a difficult time with the order in which I wanted to present the information. I understand from my research that a lot of the treatments for children with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are being conducted because of the positive success rates for adults. My concern with providing the same treatment to children as adults is children are still learning and understanding how the world can be. Relying on self-reporting as one study did could lead to a misdiagnosis of PTSD.  Other factors such as age gender, and cultural can also have an impact on the diagnosis of PTSD in children. I am unsure if there is enough research available to address this issue. I will continue to look for further treatment programs for children with PTSD. In the furture I plan to look for information on specif treatments such as group therapy, family therapy, or even cognitive-behavioral therapy as it pertains to treatments of PTSD in children. I have also realized the need to truly educate myself on PTSD. If I am unable to fully understand the diagnosis then how will I be able to accurately research the subject. I have enjoyed LBSU 302 class and look forward to using all of the techniques I have learned in the future. Good luck to everyone.

Week 7, Assignment 2

This week seemed to be intense. I was however able to use at least two articles from previous weeks to assist with the assignment. I used the Leatherby Library to find the remaining four articles. It took quite a bit of time for me to find four different articles relating to my question of "What types of treatment are there for children with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder".

Habib, M. m., Labruna, V., & Newman, J. (2013). Complex Histories and Complex Presentations: Implementation of a Manually-Guided Group Treatment for Traumatized Adolescents. Journal Of Family Violence, 28(7), 717-728.

In this article the authors describe the process in which to collect data to properly diagnose, treat, and how to develop interventions specifically for adolescents with extensive trauma exposure within residential settings. The method used in the study is a group therapy treatment where there are 16- sessions held to address the needs of children who have been exposed to or directly experienced violence. Adolescents are able to speak freely about their trauma in a safe environment. The study revealed success for most of the children who participated in the treatment. The need for future research should address other factors such as age and gender specific and a history of treatment out comes for each individual.

Kagan, R., Henry, J., Richardson, M., Trinkle, J., & LaFrenier, A. (2014). Evaluation of Real Life Heroes Treatment for Children With Complex PTSD. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, And Policy, 6(5), 588-596. doi:10.1037/a0035879

The article entitled “Evaluation of Real Life Heroes Treatment (RLH) for Children With Complex PTSD” provides the definition of the treatment and what the treatment focuses on. The article explains the method of the study, the number of children who took part in the study, and the results of their findings. The treatment of RHL is centered on attachment issues in children. The focus of the treatment is to emphasis issues related to affect regulation, emotional supportive relationships, and life story integration. The results of the study reviled that the effectiveness of the RHL treatment produced better outcomes when treatment was in combination with resiliency-focused treatment when working with children who have significant trauma associated with PTSD.

Last, B., Bos, A., Knoester, H., Bronner, M., & Grootenhuis, M. (2008, January 1). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children after pediatric intensive care treatment compared to children who survived a major fire disaster. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 2:9. doi:10.1186/1753-2000-2-9.

This article contains a study to find out if children experience Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a major fire and to identify risk factors for PTSD. Thirty-six children aged eight to seventeen took part in the study. The children were asked to fill out questioners at three and nine months after leaving the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The results of the study showed a number of the children had symptoms of PTSD after receiving care in the PICU facilities. The author’s suggest the need for education and identification of PTSD symptoms in order to reduce the number of children suffering from PTSD during and after care in a PICU facility. Several factors for future research should be considered. First is to have a structured clinical interview process instead of relying on self-reports alone. Second is to conduct the study on children who do not have a possible brain injury because the symptoms of brain injury overlap significantly with symptoms of PTSD. Lastly is to ensure that the children who partake in the study understand the importance of the follow-up procedure.

Psychosocial plus pharmacologic treatments may help prevent pediatric PTSD. (Cover story). (2013). Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, 29(3), 1-7.

This article is a continuation of the parent-child relationship to help in therapeutic interventions. The article examines the use of medications as a source of treatment as well as psychosocial interventions. From the medication viewpoint the researchers looked at Glucocorticoids, Opioids, Antidepressants and Morphine. Results showed even though the use of medication has worked at reducing symptoms of PTSD in adults only morphine when given right after a traumatic injury and for a span of six months can reduce the symptoms of PTSD in children. On the basis of psychosocial interventions only therapy along with family involvement was successful at reducing PTSD. The researchers did find that a combination of Propranolol (a medication to reduce hyperarousal) and family therapy could result in greater effectiveness. Further research needs to be conducted on studying the effectiveness of psychosocial strategies with pharmacologic on children and adolescents with PTSD symptoms.

Stanković, M., Grbeša, G., Kostić, J., Simonović, M., Milenković, T., & Višnji, A. (2013). A preview of the efficiency of systemic family therapy in treatment of children with posttraumatic stress disorder developed after car accident. Vojnosanitetski Pregled: Military Medical & Pharmaceutical Journal Of Serbia & Montenegro, 70(2), 149-154. doi:10.2298/VSP1302149S

This article examined whether the systemic family therapy (SFT) was effective at reducing symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder for children after a car accident where at least one death resulted and the use of antidepressants. The children who received SFT when both parents were involved showed significant progress as compared to those who only had one parent or were taking the antidepressants. The researchers also examined Trauma Focus-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) against the results of SFT. The results showed there is not enough clinical data to support the effectiveness of combined SFT and TF-CBT. More research needs to be conducted to see if there is even a greater chance of reducing PTSD symptoms in children.

Van Wesel, F., Alisic, E., & Boeije, H. (2014). Using qualitative evidence to optimize child PTSD treatment guidelines. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, And Policy, 6(5), 546-554. doi:10.1037/a0035172

This article examines the impact of trauma, the importance of routines, and the involvement of parents in the therapy sessions. The article also aims to answer the questions of what causes some children to develop PTSD and how can it best be treated. The results reviled that trauma can have a broad impact on a child’s life. The involvement of parents in the therapeutic relationship can reduce the symptoms of PTSD as well as the ability to stick to a routine. The greater the traumatic experience for children the longer the symptoms of PTSD will take to subside. More research needs to be conducted on Children who suffer with symptoms of PTSD. More individualized involvement on the part of the children should be considered for future research.

Week 6, Assignment 2

This week I am to address my concerns of academic integrity, plagiarism, intellectual property, and alternatives to traditional copyright practices. First and for most I have no issues with academic integrity. I am the only person who is responsible for my education. Should I not follow the rules then I should be held accountable for my actions. On the matter of plagiarism I am always concerned I will end up plagiarizing. However I have learned over the several weeks that if I am unsure always give credit by providing an in-text citation and even paraphrasing can lead to plagiarism. Intellectual property is the law that protects ownership of personal property and real estate, it also protects the exclusive control of intangible assets. I am glad this law is put into place. I know I will be protected when I put my time and effort into getting a paper published and anyone who uses my work as their own can and will be prosecuted. With technology and the ease of the internet it is very easy to just copy and paste information. After taking this research class I will have no excuse for not being held accountable should I chose not to follow the rules. This class has provided me with the tools to be successful in the research process as well as how to give credit to the people who do the work.

Week 5, Assignment 2

This week was easier than I had expected. I followed the same procedure as last week to complete this assignment. The only thing I did differently was to pay attention for articles that were of the empirical research. Last week during my search I had come across several articles that fit the empirical standards. The article I chose for this week contained information on how to treat children with complex PTSD. The treatment is called Real Life Heroes (RHL). This type of treatment focuses on attachment issues by addressing concerns associated with affect regulation, emotional supportive relationships and life story integration. I decided to print off the article, save it, and emailed it to myself along with the proper APA citation. I plan on using the information I have found to assist with my Research paper.

Week 4 Assignment 2

I have become very familiar with the process of finding articles for my topic. This week I choose to research the treatments available for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. I typed PTSD in the main search engine of the Leatherby Library. From there I selected advanced search and typed treatment. I also chose to limit my search to only peer reviewed articles and set the time bar between 2010 and 2015. I looked over the first two articles that were available and decided they were a good sources for my research paper. I emailed myself the articles as well as the APA citation for them. Both articles spoke about the study presented and the number of people that partook in the study. I feel they are both valuable sources of information and have provided me with other ideas of what I would like to research.

Week 3, Assignment 2

This week I continued my research on the topic of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. I was able to find several books and a few DVDs on the Leatherby Library, but choose to continue my search with Google. I typed in Post-traumatic Stress disorder books in the search engine. A lot of books on the subject came up. I finally found a book on a different website called The National Academies Press, located at www.nap.edu. The book is entitled Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: An
Assessment of the Evidence. I was able to have a better understanding of how the diagnosis process is done as well of some of the treatments available. What I found difficult was with the Leatherby Library. I was unable to open and view a summary of each book. What I hope to find out as I continue my research is the population effected by PTSD, what are some of the triggers, and lastly the number of people who are receiving treatment.

Week 2, Assignment 2

I choose to research the topic of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I found it much easier to navigate through the Leatherby Library than I did Google Scholar. With the Library I was able to stay with peer reviewed articles as well as set the date to my standards. In Google Scholar I was only able to set the date. I also had a difficult time finding an article that offered more than just the abstract.

The article written by Putts (2014) explains the steps to assessing trauma history and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. It also addresses the treatment when working with a client diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. The article also touches base on the status of the assessment process. Lastly the article offers the importance of the tools needed to screen for PTSD and the interviewing process.

The article written by Breslau, Troost, Bohnert, and Luo (2013) suggest that victims vary in predispositions to the PTSD response to traumas. They conducted research to see if a person who suffers from a sexual assault has a higher risk of PTSD than a person who is witness to an accident or natural disaster. They detected no evidence that the influence of predispositions on PTSD had an increased risk. They concluded that predispositions increase the risk of PTSD following sexual assault as much as they do following accidents, disaster, and unexpected death of someone close.

I saved both articles and plan on using them to finish my research paper on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder for my Abnormal Psychology class.

References

Putts, M. R. (2014). Recognizing Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Individuals With Psychotic Disorders. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(1), 83-89. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00133.x

Breslau, N., Troost, J. P., Bohnert, K., & Luo, Z. (2013). Influence of predispositions on post-traumatic stress disorder: does it vary by trauma severity?. Psychological medicine, 43(02), 381-390.