Christian Connell

Jason Lang

The Child Health and Development Institute’s (CHDI) Jason Lang, together with Christian Connell of Penn State University, co-authored two articles on child trauma in the July 2018 edition of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

The first article, ” The Child Trauma Screen: A Follow-Up Validation,” provides additional empirical support for the validity and reliability of the Child Trauma Screen, a free, brief trauma screening measure co-developed by CHDI, the Yale Child Study Center, and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families for use across child-serving systems. The Child Trauma Screen was developed as part of the Connecticut Collaborative on Effective Practices for Trauma (CONCEPT) initiative and is being used in multiple child-serving settings to identify children who may be suffering from trauma exposure and need more comprehensive assessment or treatment.

The second article, ” Patterns of Trauma Exposure in Childhood and Adolescence and Their Associations With Behavioral Well-Being,” utilizes data from CONCEPT to review patterns of trauma exposure among children and their associations with well-being. The results suggest that patterns of exposure were related to varying levels of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms. Results also suggest that parents and children differed in how they reported trauma exposure and behavioral issues, making it important for clinicians to gather input from both parents and children to get a complete picture of behavioral health when beginning treatment.

If you need additional information about these journal articles, or the excellent work being done by CHDI on trauma exposure, contact Jason Lang, Ph.D. — Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives.