Trauma-Informed Approaches to Adolescent Relationship Abuse and Sexual Violence Prevention

A trauma-informed guide to caring for adolescents following sexual assault

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Sexual assault is common among adolescents worldwide. Survivors of sexual assault may experience various immediate and long-term effects on their physical and mental health. It is important that pediatric healthcare providers (HCPs) are aware of the high prevalence of sexual assault and recognize the impact on their adolescent patients. The aim of this update is to discuss how pediatric HCPs can embody a trauma-informed approach when caring for survivors of sexual assault across various settings.

RECENT FINDINGS

All adolescent patients should be screened for sexual assault during routine clinical visits; in responding to a disclosure, providers should exhibit compassion, express validation, and help connect the patient to resources to aid in healing. Caring for survivors of sexual assault should ideally be multidisciplinary, involving treatment of the medical complications (including the possibility of pregnancy or infection) and mental health sequelae (including increased likelihood of depression, posttraumatic symptoms, and suicidality).

SUMMARY

A trauma-informed approach can be applied to all aspects of caring for survivors of sexual assault, from screening for sexual assault and responding to disclosure, to providing acute and longitudinal care following sexual assault.

Public Health Nurses' Professional Practices to Prevent, Recognize, and Respond to Suspected Child Maltreatment in Home Visiting: An Interpretive Descriptive Study

The purpose of this analysis was to understand public health nurses’ experiences in preventing and addressing suspected child maltreatment within the context of home visiting. The principles of interpretive description guided study decisions and data were generated from interviews with 47 public health nurses. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings highlighted that public health nurses have an important role in the primary prevention of child maltreatment. These nurses described a six-step process for managing their duty to report suspected child maltreatment within the context of nurse-client relationships. When indicators of suspected child maltreatment were present, examination of experiential practice revealed that nurses developed reporting processes that maximized child safety, highlighted maternal strengths, and created opportunities to maintain the nurse-client relationship. Even with child protection involvement, public health nurses have a central role in continuing to work with families to develop safe and competent parenting skills.