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Impact of Emotional Regulation on Child PTSS Three-Months Post-Injury
Twenty million children in the U.S. suffer unintentional injuries each year, resulting in 9.2 million emergency room visits. Youth aged 10-19 are at significantly increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after an injury. Children with higher rates of PTSS often experience long-term difficulties with school, work, and daily living. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. As a part of a larger, prospective longitudinal study, this study seeks to examine the potential role of emotional regulation on children’s recovery following pediatric traumatic injury. Children between ages 10-15 were recruited from an emergency department at a local children’s hospital within 48 hours of a traumatic injury. While in the hospital, children completed a self-report questionnaire that measures two systems of emotion regulation: the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), which relates to sensitivity to punishment, non-reward and novel stimuli, and the behavioral activation system (BAS), which relates to sensitivity to reward and escape from punishment. Children then completed the PTSD-RI, a self-report measure of PTSS three-months post-injury. Children with high scores on the BIS questionnaire are expected to report higher rates of anxiety three-months post-injury and children with high scores on the BAS questionnaire are expected to report higher rates of depression three-months post-injury. If emotional regulation is found to underlie the development of persistent symptoms following pediatric traumatic injury, it may aid healthcare providers in the identification of patients who would benefit from additional services in the acute aftermath of an injury.