30.2 Emotional Dysregulation and PTSD Rates in the Child Trauma Population

Despite the fact that a huge number of traumatized youth end up in our emergency departments, inpatient units, and specialty programs for outbursts and behavioral dyscontrol, there is a dearth of trauma research literature on outbursts or emotional dysregulation in youth who have PTSD. In fact, no study has examined these in children who have PTSD. This is the first study to do so. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) Clinical Improvement through Measurement Initiative (CIMI) began collection in 2014 and continues today and contains information from 2552 children and adolescents, from 12 academic and community-based centers that provide a range of trauma-informed evidence-based and promising practices. Measures including demographic, living situations, and insurance information, as well as treatment services and outcomes, are administered at treatment entry, every 3 months, and end of treatment. This small study examined data from youth completing the Dysregulation Profile of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the UCLA Child/Adolescent PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-5 PTSD (N = 1004). PTSD E1 criterion frequency was also specifically examined. Authors will report on the number of youth who met criteria for PTSD and of those who had clinical levels of dysregulation. Frequency for endorsing criterion E1 of PTSD will be discussed, including the validity of that item as a representation for outbursts in youth with PTSD. The importance of this and the dearth of literature will be discussed for this, along with treatment outcome studies utilizing a meta-analysis looking at emotional regulation difficulties in traumatized youth. There is a dramatic need for added emotional dysregulation measurement in PTSD and child traumatic stress in research studies, including those for treatment outcome. Labeling, understanding, and characterizing outbursts in our trauma child populations will influence assessment and treatment considerations at all levels of our systems of care.