Parent-Led Stepped Care Trauma Treatment: Parents' Experiences With Helping Their Child Recover

Stepping Together for Children After Trauma (ST-CT): Feasibility and Predictors of Outcome of a Parent-led, Therapist Assisted Treatment

Stepping Together for Children after Trauma (ST-CT) is the first step of the promising intervention Stepped Care CBT for Children after Trauma. In ST-CT, the task of leading treatment is partially shifted to the parents, and the child and parent work together to complete therapeutic tasks from a workbook with therapist supervision. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of ST-CT in Norwegian first line services and explore child factors predicting outcome. Eighty-two children (mean age 9.9 years, 56% girls) participated. Feasibility was defined by treatment completion, reductions of child posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) mid- and post-treatment, and client treatment satisfaction. Predictors included child baseline PTSS, depressive symptoms, posttraumatic cognitions, externalizing symptoms, number of different traumatic events, and type of trauma. Results showed that rates of completion (78.0%) and response (81% of completers/59.8% intention-to-treat) were comparable to previous studies by the ST-CT developer. Overall treatment effect was d = 2.46 and client treatment satisfaction was high (mean score child: 8.3, parent: 9.0, on a scale from 0 - 10). Higher baseline PTSS and depressive symptoms predicted poorer outcome at both mid- and post-treatment, while more posttraumatic cognitions, and exposure to interpersonal trauma predicted poorer outcome at mid-treatment only. These associations were no longer significant in the fully adjusted models. In conclusion, ST-CT shows promise as an effective first line treatment in this new context, with two of three children responding to the treatment. Baseline PTSS, depression, post-traumatic cognitions and type of trauma may be related to outcomes and should be explored further. (Trial registration:  ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04073862. Retrospectively registered June 3rd 2019, first patient recruited May 19th 2019).

The therapist role in parent-led cognitive behavioral therapy for children after trauma: treating trauma from a distance

This article examines the therapist experience of their role in providing Stepped Care Cognitive-Behavioral-Therapy for Children after Trauma (SC-CBT-CT), a semi-homebased, parent-led trauma-treatment for children (7-12). Previous research has documented that parent-led, therapist-assisted psychological interventions are an acceptable and effective type of service delivery. Yet, the therapist perspective on their role when providing parent-led treatments has received limited research attention. Attention is therefore directed to the therapist experience of engaging parents, establishing relationships, and working with children's trauma narratives from a distance-through the engagement of parents. The data material consists of semi-structured interviews with SC-CBT-CT therapists. To identify patterns of experience, thought, and viewpoints in the overall data, a stepwise thematic analysis approach was applied. Two core themes emerged: 1) Perceptions of therapeutic control and therapeutic presence when engaging parents to lead their own children through an exposure-based program; 2) Establishment and maintenance of therapeutic alliances with and between parents and children. Although parents are inherently well-positioned to engage with their own children about trauma, the article highlights that treatment adherence, progression, and perseverance is contingent upon systematic therapist guidance, monitoring, and availability for support and problem-solving.

The bidirectional associations between caregiver and child symptoms in the parent-led treatment stepping together for children after trauma

BACKGROUND

An innovative approach to child trauma treatment in which caregivers are allocated treatment tasks has shown promising results, but less is known about the bidirectional associations between caregiver and child symptoms during treatment.

METHODS

Eighty-two child-caregiver dyads who participated in the parent-led therapist-assisted Stepping Together for Children after Trauma (ST-CT) were included (child age: 7-12 years, mean = 9.9 years). Caregivers' emotional reactions and anxiety/depression and children's posttraumatic stress (PTS) and depression were assessed pretreatment, mid-treatment, and posttreatment. We investigated the possible directional associations between caregivers' emotional reactions and anxiety/depression and children's PTS and depression using random intercept cross-lagged panel models.

RESULTS

Symptoms improved in both caregivers and children. Lower levels of caregiver emotional reactions at pretreatment predicted improved child PTS at mid-treatment; lower levels of caregiver emotional reactions at mid-treatment predicted improved child depression at posttreatment; and lower levels of child PTS at mid-treatment predicted improved caregiver emotional reactions at posttreatment.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that caregivers and children can impact each other's responses to a parent-led child trauma-focused treatment. Notably, children with caregivers who were less affected by their own emotional reactions exhibited greater improvement in both PTS and depression. Supporting the caregivers may benefit both children and caregivers.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04073862; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04073862.