Trauma exposure among drug-endangered children

Children have the best chance of developing normally when they live in healthy, predictable, and safe homes with parents who protect and adequately care for them. When they are exposed to stressful and traumatic events over long periods of time, the cumulative effects can create severe barriers to normal development. If not addressed, these stressors are likely to generate negative and serious health and mental health consequences for children. This study examines the differences in trauma exposure and the response to those events between drug endangered children and non-drug endangered children involved in the child welfare system. This data represents the experiences of 1127 children randomly selected from the state's child protective service database and represents 20% of all open cases during 2005-2006. Archival data was analyzed to determine the presence of exposure using DSM-IV-TR PTSD Criteria A1, and whether or not the child's response to exposure met PTSD Criteria A2. Results reveal high rates of trauma exposure in the DEC group and indicate that trauma exposure and trauma response did significantly vary across groups. Implications for the assessment and treatment of child welfare involved children are drawn.