Title of Research
Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress: An Integrative Literature Review
Start Date
17-11-2017 10:00 AM
End Date
17-11-2017 11:30 AM
Abstract
Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress (PMTS) is a common occurrence and not well understood by the medical community. Therefore, identifying key concepts is necessary to provide early intervention for children and parents. The purpose of this literature review is to evaluate current research to determine common themes of PMTS. Questions included “What is known about the defining characteristics of PMTS?” and “What variable interactions predispose a child to PMTS development?” Articles were found using CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, ProQuest, and Academic Search Complete using key words like acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress, medical traumatic stress, pediatric, child, parent, and guardian. Studies had to be published in English, evaluate PMTS characteristics, and focus on child characteristics. Those involving caregiver reactions only were excluded from the data set. After examining the literature, the following themes were present in relation to PTS formation, in descending frequency: negative coping skill use, perceived threat/fear, pain with incident, and pre-incident functioning. Non-PTS characteristics included parental reaction impacted child reaction and child functioning before impacted functioning after incident. The findings suggested early identification of PMTS was most closely related to negative coping skill use, perceived threat at time of incident, parent reaction at time of incident, and child pre-functioning level. Improving healthcare understanding of these symptoms may help in identification and referral for early intervention. In the future, more studies are needed to evaluate what assessments are most accurate as well as what interventions are most successful.
Included in
Child Psychology Commons, Health Psychology Commons, Nursing Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons
Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress: An Integrative Literature Review
Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress (PMTS) is a common occurrence and not well understood by the medical community. Therefore, identifying key concepts is necessary to provide early intervention for children and parents. The purpose of this literature review is to evaluate current research to determine common themes of PMTS. Questions included “What is known about the defining characteristics of PMTS?” and “What variable interactions predispose a child to PMTS development?” Articles were found using CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, ProQuest, and Academic Search Complete using key words like acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress, medical traumatic stress, pediatric, child, parent, and guardian. Studies had to be published in English, evaluate PMTS characteristics, and focus on child characteristics. Those involving caregiver reactions only were excluded from the data set. After examining the literature, the following themes were present in relation to PTS formation, in descending frequency: negative coping skill use, perceived threat/fear, pain with incident, and pre-incident functioning. Non-PTS characteristics included parental reaction impacted child reaction and child functioning before impacted functioning after incident. The findings suggested early identification of PMTS was most closely related to negative coping skill use, perceived threat at time of incident, parent reaction at time of incident, and child pre-functioning level. Improving healthcare understanding of these symptoms may help in identification and referral for early intervention. In the future, more studies are needed to evaluate what assessments are most accurate as well as what interventions are most successful.