Sexually Abused Children Suffering From Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Assessment and Treatment Strategies

Revealing underlying factors of absenteeism: A machine learning approach

INTRODUCTION

The basis of support is understanding. In machine learning, understanding happens through assimilated knowledge and is centered on six pillars: big data, data volume, value, variety, velocity, and veracity. This study analyzes school attendance problems (SAP), which encompasses its legal statutes, school codes, students' attendance behaviors, and interventions in a school environment. The support pillars include attention to the physical classroom, school climate, and personal underlying factors impeding engagement, from which socio-emotional factors are often the primary drivers.

METHODS

This study asked the following research question: What can we learn about specific underlying factors of absenteeism using machine learning approaches? Data were retrieved from one school system available through the proprietary Building Dreams (BD) platform, owned by the Fight for Life Foundation (FFLF), whose mission is to support youth in underserved communities. The BD platform, licensed to K-12 schools, collects student-level data reported by educators on core values associated with in-class participation (a reported-negative or positive-behavior relative to the core values) based on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) principles. We used a multi-phased approach leveraging several machine learning techniques (clustering, qualitative analysis, classification, and refinement of supervised and unsupervised learning). Unsupervised technique was employed to explore strong boundaries separating students using unlabeled data.

RESULTS

From over 20,000 recorded behaviors, we were able to train a classifier with 90.2% accuracy and uncovered a major underlying factor directly affecting absenteeism: the importance of peer relationships. This is an important finding and provides data-driven support for the fundamental idea that peer relationships are a critical factor affecting absenteeism.

DISCUSSION

The reported results provide a clear evidence that implementing socio-emotional learning components within a curriculum can improve absenteeism by targeting a root cause. Such knowledge can drive impactful policy and programming changes necessary for supporting the youth in communities overwhelmed with adversities.

Traumatische Ereignisse, psychische Belastung und Prädiktoren der PTBS-Symptomatik bei Kindern und Jugendlichen

Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war der Vergleich von Psychotherapiepatienten im Kindes- und Jugendalter mit Schülern bezüglich der Prävalenz potentiell traumatischer Ereignisse, der posttraumatischen Symptomatik und der psychischen Belastung. Zudem wurden der Einfluss kumulativer Traumata auf posttraumatisches Erleben und mögliche Prädiktoren einer PTBS untersucht. Mit Hilfe des Essener Trauma-Inventars für Kinder und Jugendliche (ETI-KJ) und der Symptom Check-Liste 27 (SCL-27) wurden 96 Therapiepatienten mit 99 Schülern im Alter von 12 bis 17 verglichen. Hinsichtlich der Prävalenz potentiell traumatischer Ereignisse konnte kein Unterschied zwischen den Gruppen festgestellt werden. Patienten berichteten häufiger von interpersonellen Traumata und waren von einer höheren Anzahl persönlich erlebter Traumata betroffen. Für beide Gruppen erwiesen sich Alter, weibliches Geschlecht, die Anzahl traumatischer Erlebnisse sowie sexueller Missbrauch als signifikante Prädiktoren für die PTBS-Symptomatik. Kumulative und interpersonelle Traumata führen zu schweren psychosozialen Folgen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Daher gilt es diese standardmäßig zu eruieren und die Chronifizierung einer PTBS zu vermeiden.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: a review

BACKGROUND

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric sequel to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been used in the management of PTSD for many years. This paper reviews the effectiveness of CBT for the treatment of PTSD following various types of trauma, its potential to prevent PTSD, methods used in CBT, and reflects on the mechanisms of action of CBT in PTSD.

METHODS

Electronic databases, including PubMed, were searched for articles on CBT and PTSD. Manual searches were conducted for cross-references in the relevant journal sites.

RESULTS

The current literature reveals robust evidence that CBT is a safe and effective intervention for both acute and chronic PTSD following a range of traumatic experiences in adults, children, and adolescents. However, nonresponse to CBT by PTSD can be as high as 50%, contributed to by various factors, including comorbidity and the nature of the study population. CBT has been validated and used across many cultures, and has been used successfully by community therapists following brief training in individual and group settings. There has been effective use of Internet-based CBT in PTSD. CBT has been found to have a preventive role in some studies, but evidence for definitive recommendations is inadequate. The effect of CBT has been mediated mostly by the change in maladaptive cognitive distortions associated with PTSD. Many studies also report physiological, functional neuroimaging, and electroencephalographic changes correlating with response to CBT.

CONCLUSION

There is scope for further research on implementation of CBT following major disasters, its preventive potential following various traumas, and the neuropsychological mechanisms of action.

Game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (GB-CBT) group program for children who have experienced sexual abuse: a preliminary investigation

This preliminary investigation examined the efficacy of a game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy group program for elementary school-aged children who have experienced sexual abuse. Treatment aimed to improve: (a) internalizing symptoms, (b) externalizing behaviors, (c) sexually inappropriate behaviors, (d) social skills deficits, (e) self-esteem problems, and (f) knowledge of healthy sexuality and self-protection skills. Results indicate that game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was effective for improving internalizing and externalizing symptoms, reducing sexually inappropriate behaviors, and improving children's knowledge of abuse and self-protection skills. Although results pointed in a positive direction for social skills and self-perception, these findings were not statistically significant. Clinical significance was also evaluated to assess the clinical utility of treatment effects. Treatment implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.