The March 2019 edition of The Bridge focusses on traumatic experiences, outcomes, and interventions. Trauma can occur in many forms from single exposure to a life-threatening or fear-inducing event, to sustained trauma ranging from neglect, other abuses, famine or war. All of which can present in clinical practice.
The adult research has always been more advanced in this area. However, there is now a greater focus occurring on these areas relating to children and young people. Rather than simply extrapolating adult research, the focus is now on what works for whom within childhood.
Certainly, there has been an increased focus on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on longer-term behavioural and mental health outcomes. There are clear patterns showing – the more exposure a child has to adversity, the worse the outcome.
Within this edition of The Bridge, there are research summaries from ACAMH’s two journals JCPP and CAMH; by both the original authors and Jessica Edwards, ACAMH’s freelance science writer. It covers recommendations for refugee services responding to a refugee crisis, the impact of foster care on the outcomes of the children from Romanian Orphanages and a variety of articles relating to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These PTSD articles are concerned with interventions, cost-effectiveness and the trajectories of symptomatology after a traumatic event.
Clinically these are all relevant with all Child and Adolescent Mental Health teams coming into contact with children that have been exposed to trauma in a wide variety of ways.
I hope that you enjoy reading this issue of The Bridge and perhaps you’ll be interested in attending the Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture and National Conference returns with a focus on vulnerability and resilience, and includes a talk from Professor Andrea Danese on ‘The impact of adverse childhood experiences: Challenges ahead’. Andrea is also one of the contributors to our Trauma Topic Guide.
If you have any ideas for content or feedback on the bridge whilst I am acting as Guest Editor, please email me.
I hope you enjoy reading this edition of The Bridge please share it with colleagues, and a pdf version is available, plus look out for our Conduct Disorders and Aggression edition out next month.