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Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics

IMPORTANCE: Clinical guidelines recommend routine screening for trauma at youth mental health clinics. However, many clinicians are concerned that screening may be upsetting both for youths who have been exposed to trauma and for those who have not. OBJECTIVES: To investigate levels of upset followi...

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Autores principales: Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim, Ormhaug, Silje Mørup, Jensen, Tine K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Medical Association 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6537919/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31099873
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.4003
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author Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim
Ormhaug, Silje Mørup
Jensen, Tine K.
author_facet Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim
Ormhaug, Silje Mørup
Jensen, Tine K.
author_sort Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim
collection PubMed
description IMPORTANCE: Clinical guidelines recommend routine screening for trauma at youth mental health clinics. However, many clinicians are concerned that screening may be upsetting both for youths who have been exposed to trauma and for those who have not. OBJECTIVES: To investigate levels of upset following routine trauma screening and whether type of trauma and symptoms of posttraumatic stress were associated with level of upset. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Survey study in which data from routine screening for trauma exposure and trauma-related symptoms were collected from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2017. Nearly half (n = 40) of all youth mental health clinics in Norway submitted survey data. Participants included youths aged 6 to 18 years referred to treatment. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The trauma screening inventory, Child & Adolescent Trauma Screening Questionnaire, was administered. Self-reported levels of upset after initial screening were scored on a scale ranging from 1 (not upsetting) to 7 (very upsetting). RESULTS: Among 10 157 youths aged 6 to 18 years (mean [SD] age, 13.0 [3.1] years; 5320 [55.0%] female), surveyed, 8021 (79.1%) reported exposure to at least 1 potentially traumatizing event and a mean (SD) of 2.44 (2.27) different types of events (range, 0-15). Only 453 participants (4.5%) reported high levels of upset, while 2757 participants (27.2%) reported moderate levels of upset and 6942 participants (68.4%) reported no or low levels of upset. Youths who had been exposed to any type of traumatic event reported significantly higher levels of upset compared with those reporting no trauma exposure, and a higher number of reported traumatic events was associated with a higher level of upset (point estimate, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.22-0.24; P < .001). Among participants who reported trauma, exposure to sexual abuse (point estimate, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.77-0.95; P < .001) and higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (point estimate, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.04-0.05; P < .001) were associated with higher levels of upset. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A high level of trauma exposure was found among youths referred to youth mental health clinics, but trauma screening was well tolerated, with most participants reporting no or low levels of upset. These findings can be used to support therapists and health care leaders in implementing routine trauma screening to better identify youths who are in need of trauma-focused treatment.
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spelling pubmed-65379192019-06-12 Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim Ormhaug, Silje Mørup Jensen, Tine K. JAMA Netw Open Original Investigation IMPORTANCE: Clinical guidelines recommend routine screening for trauma at youth mental health clinics. However, many clinicians are concerned that screening may be upsetting both for youths who have been exposed to trauma and for those who have not. OBJECTIVES: To investigate levels of upset following routine trauma screening and whether type of trauma and symptoms of posttraumatic stress were associated with level of upset. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Survey study in which data from routine screening for trauma exposure and trauma-related symptoms were collected from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2017. Nearly half (n = 40) of all youth mental health clinics in Norway submitted survey data. Participants included youths aged 6 to 18 years referred to treatment. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The trauma screening inventory, Child & Adolescent Trauma Screening Questionnaire, was administered. Self-reported levels of upset after initial screening were scored on a scale ranging from 1 (not upsetting) to 7 (very upsetting). RESULTS: Among 10 157 youths aged 6 to 18 years (mean [SD] age, 13.0 [3.1] years; 5320 [55.0%] female), surveyed, 8021 (79.1%) reported exposure to at least 1 potentially traumatizing event and a mean (SD) of 2.44 (2.27) different types of events (range, 0-15). Only 453 participants (4.5%) reported high levels of upset, while 2757 participants (27.2%) reported moderate levels of upset and 6942 participants (68.4%) reported no or low levels of upset. Youths who had been exposed to any type of traumatic event reported significantly higher levels of upset compared with those reporting no trauma exposure, and a higher number of reported traumatic events was associated with a higher level of upset (point estimate, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.22-0.24; P < .001). Among participants who reported trauma, exposure to sexual abuse (point estimate, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.77-0.95; P < .001) and higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (point estimate, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.04-0.05; P < .001) were associated with higher levels of upset. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A high level of trauma exposure was found among youths referred to youth mental health clinics, but trauma screening was well tolerated, with most participants reporting no or low levels of upset. These findings can be used to support therapists and health care leaders in implementing routine trauma screening to better identify youths who are in need of trauma-focused treatment. American Medical Association 2019-05-17 /pmc/articles/PMC6537919/ /pubmed/31099873 http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.4003 Text en Copyright 2019 Skar A-MS et al. JAMA Network Open. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License.
spellingShingle Original Investigation
Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim
Ormhaug, Silje Mørup
Jensen, Tine K.
Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics
title Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics
title_full Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics
title_fullStr Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics
title_full_unstemmed Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics
title_short Reported Levels of Upset in Youth After Routine Trauma Screening at Mental Health Clinics
title_sort reported levels of upset in youth after routine trauma screening at mental health clinics
topic Original Investigation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6537919/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31099873
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.4003
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