Screening for posttraumatic stress symptoms after accidental injury: Implementation of the young child PTSD screen in the acute trauma setting.

Authors

Marissa Ray, Allison Bailey, Elizabeth Lendrum, Emily Vore, Angela Poundstone, Susan Beiting, Megan Reichert, Suzanne Moody, Emily Rheaume, Richard A Falcone, Meera Kotagal

Published in

Injury. Volume 57. Issue 11. Pages 113767. Oct 07, 2026. Epub Oct 07, 2026.

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in young children are underrecognized following unintentional injury, and validated screening tools for early childhood are rarely implemented in acute trauma settings. We evaluated the Young Child PTSD Screen (YCPS) administered at hospital discharge to determine screening positivity, associated clinical factors, and persistence of symptoms at one month.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2-6 years admitted to a Level I pediatric trauma center following unintentional injury (November 2020-November 2024). Caregivers completed the 6-item YCPS at discharge. Children with ≥ 1 endorsed symptom were contacted one month later for repeat assessment. Demographic, injury, and hospitalization data were abstracted from the trauma registry and electronic health record. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated predictors of positive screening at discharge, and follow-up analyses assessed persistence of symptoms.
Of 193 screened patients, 186 met inclusion criteria. Over half (55.9%, n = 104) screened symptomatic or positive at discharge. On univariate analysis, greater injury severity score and longer length of stay were associated with symptomatic/positive screening. In multivariable analysis, injury severity remained the only significant predictor (aOR 1.07 per point increase in injury severity score, 95% CI 1.02-1.13, p = 0.004). Of eligible children, 32.6% (n = 34) completed one-month follow-up and 41.1% (n = 14) screened positive. Higher discharge YCPS scores were associated with positive follow-up (median 3 vs 2; p = 0.046) and were positively correlated with one-month scores (r²=0.21, p = 0.005). No demographic variables (age, sex, race) predicted persistence of symptoms.
Over one-third of traumatically injured young children screened positive for PTSS at discharge, and a substantial proportion had persistent symptoms at one month. Injury severity was associated with positive screens at discharge, while early symptom burden predicted persistence. These findings support the feasibility and clinical value of implementing developmentally sensitive screening for very young children in the inpatient trauma setting.

PMID:
42854535
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.