Date of Award

January 2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Thomas Petros

Abstract

The high rates of trauma exposure among children and adolescents is a major public health concern due to the many ways trauma can adversely impact cognitive, emotional, and social development and functioning. The high rates of comorbidity between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and other mental health disorders translate to complex diagnostic pictures. When conducting psychological, educational, or neuropsychological evaluations it is therefore imperative that clinicians assess for trauma to accurately diagnose, but ultimately to ensure appropriate recommendations for treatment and interventions are made. Several challenges to screening and assessing PTSS among children and adolescents have prompted the identification of efficient and economic screening measures. A few studies have examined the utility of the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983) in screening for PTSS among children and adolescents, but the results have been largely mixed. The aims of this study were to further examine the validity and utility of the CBCL PTSD profile as a screening tool for PTSS within psychological assessment and whether the CBCL-PTSD profile is associated with neuropsychological, academic, and emotional/behavioral impairment in children and adolescents that have experienced trauma. Data from comprehensive psychological evaluations of 287 eligible outpatients at a private psychological clinic located in a primary care facility were analyzed. The results of the study provide evidence as to whether the CBCL-PTSD can accurately identify PTSS and therefore be used to screen for PTSS in comprehensive evaluations. As well as provide evidence of the neuropsychological, academic, and emotional/behavioral impairment in children and adolescents that have experienced trauma. Results, limitations, and implications for clinical practice and further research are be discussed.

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