JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Injury, a leading health threat to children, is also a common cause of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in childhood. Most injured children with PTSD are not diagnosed or treated. ⋯ The STEPP represents a new method to guide clinicians in making evidence-based decisions for the allocation of scarce mental health resources for traumatic stress. Its brevity and simple scoring rule suggest that it can be easily administered in the acute care setting.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A mental health intervention for schoolchildren exposed to violence: a randomized controlled trial.
No randomized controlled studies have been conducted to date on the effectiveness of psychological interventions for children with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that has resulted from personally witnessing or being personally exposed to violence. ⋯ A standardized 10-session cognitive-behavioral group intervention can significantly decrease symptoms of PTSD and depression in students who are exposed to violence and can be effectively delivered on school campuses by trained school-based mental health clinicians.
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Although political violence continues in parts of Central America, South America, and Mexico, little is known about its relationship to the health of Latino immigrants living in the United States. ⋯ Latino immigrants in primary care in Los Angeles have a high prevalence of exposure to political violence before immigrating to the United States and associated impairments in mental health and health-related quality of life.
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Physical abuse is a leading cause of serious head injury and death in children aged 2 years or younger. The incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury (TBI) in US children is unknown. ⋯ In this population of North Carolina children, the incidence of inflicted TBI varied by characteristics of the injured children and their mothers. These data may be helpful for informing preventive interventions.