Objective This pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of a four-session, caregiver-child Intervention, the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), to prevent the development of Chronic PTSD provided within 30 days of exposure to a Potentially Traumatic Event (PTE). Method One-hundred-seventy-six 7-to-17 year old youth were recruited through telephone screening based on report of one new distressing posttraumatic stress symptom after a PTE. Of those, one-hundred-six youth were randomly assigned to the Intervention (n=53) or a four-session supportive Comparison condition (N=53). Group differences in symptom severity were assessed using repeated measures with mixed effects models of intervention group, time, and the interaction of intervention and time. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess treatment condition and any subsequent traumas experienced as predictors for Full and Partial PTSD diagnosis at 3 month follow-up. An exploratory chi-square analysis was performed to examine the differences in PTSD symptom criteria B, C, and D at follow-up Results At baseline, youth in both groups had similar demographics, past trauma exposures and symptom severity. At follow-up, the Intervention group demonstrated significantly fewer Full and Partial PTSD diagnoses than the Comparison group on a standardized diagnostic measure of PTSD. Also, there was a significant group by time interaction for TSCC Posttraumatic Stress and Anxiety Indices as the CFTSI group had significantly lower posttraumatic and anxiety scores than the Comparison group. Conclusions The results suggest that a caregiver-youth, brief preventative early intervention for youth exposed to a PTE is a promising approach to preventing Chronic PTSD.

The objective of this article was to survey available intimate partner violence (IPV) treatment studies with (a) randomized case assignment, and (b) at least 20 participants per group. Studies were classified into 4 categories according to primary treatment focus: perpetrator, victim, couples, or child-witness interventions. The results suggest that extant interventions have limited effect on repeat violence, with most treatments reporting minimal benefit above arrest alone. There is a lack of research evidence for the effectiveness of the most common treatments provided for victims and perpetrators of IPV, including the Duluth model for perpetrators and shelter-advocacy approaches for victims. Rates of recidivism in most perpetrator-and partner-focused treatments are approximately 30% within 6 months, regardless of intervention strategy used. Couples treatment approaches that simultaneously address problems with substance abuse and aggression yield the lowest recidivism rates, and manualized child trauma treatments are effective in reducing child symptoms secondary to IPV. This review shows the benefit of integrating empirically validated substance abuse and trauma treatments into IPV interventions and highlights the need for more work in this area.

Effect size varied across studies employing different methodologies, populations, and conceptualizations of violence exposure and antisocial behavior. These findings do not support a simple, direct link from early violence exposure to antisocial behavior but suggest that many factors influence this relationship.