články -patopsychologie

In terms of predictors of profile membership, most of these person-centered studies of trauma-exposed adolescents indicate female sex to be a common risk factor for the development of severe symptomatology. For instance, Breslau et al. (2005) examined a community sample of 1377 19–23 year olds exposed to traumatic events and found that females who experienced sexual assault reported the highest level of symptom severity, compared to either males with similar traumatic experiences or other individuals exposed to different traumatic events. Ayer et al. (2011) found similar results in a sample of 1119 trauma-exposed 12–17 year olds, where females reported greater severity of trauma-related symptoms compared to their male counterparts. In addition, results from a study on 723 youth (mean age = 15) in a juvenile correctional facility indicated that females were over-represented in the severe profile characterized by high rates of trauma symptoms, psychiatric symptoms (i.e., anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior, paranoia), substance use, and behavioral problems (Vaughn et al., 2007).

However, it is important to note that these studies focused on quite disparate populations whose trauma-related symptomatology had been measured in terms of PTSD symptoms and other mental health indicators such as depression, substance use, and problem behavior. Moreover, none of these studies specifically examined trauma-relevant profiles in child welfare-involved adolescents. Given that child welfare samples tend to have high rates of trauma exposure (e.g., Fallon et al., 2015, Trocmé et al., 2010), it seems important to explore trauma symptom profiles among this population.

Given the scarcity of trauma-related person-centered studies with adolescents in child welfare, our first objective was to build on the currently limited literature by examining trauma symptom profiles among child-welfare-involved 13–17-year-olds. Past person-centered studies involving trauma have mainly relied on PTSD symptoms and other mental health indicators which can add complexity to profile interpretation. Moreover, the samples used in previous person-centered studies were either quite specific (e.g., female sexual assault survivors, juvenile justice) or too broad (e.g., community-based samples), thereby making it difficult to generalize the results to the population of child-welfare-involved adolescents. As such, the current study restricted the profile indicators to trauma-related symptoms measured on the TSCC, and we aimed to identify profiles among a sample of adolescents served by child welfare. The second objective was to evaluate the relationship of those trauma symptom profiles to maltreatment experiences, socio-demographics, and child welfare variables. Considering the diversity of the studies investigating trauma symptom profiles among adolescents, the current analyses were largely exploratory. However, we expected to identify at least three profiles in our sample, each reflecting increasingly higher levels of trauma-related symptoms.