Abstract

Child abuse is a significant issue within our society. In 2014, there were a reported 702,208 cases of child abuse and neglect across the country, with nearly 120,000 suffering from physical abuse. Research has shown the adverse physical and psychological consequences of child maltreatment. Despite what we know about the benefits of early intervention for this population, the degree of implementation of psychosocial interventions, specifically in a hospital setting, remains unclear. In an initial study that utilized archival data from the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) Trauma Registry Database, researchers found that the majority of children admitted to the hospital for non-accidental trauma (NAT) received minimal inpatient psychosocial services and psychosocial referrals at discharge. Given the gravity of these statistics, this doctoral project sought to verify the initial findings of the archival data through an in-depth chart review. A random sample of 20% (n=151) of the original 746 archival charts were selected. Subjects were previous pediatric patients at LLUCH who sustained a traumatic injury and whose case was identified as NAT. The results of the current study were consistent with previous findings and demonstrated that Pediatric Psychology saw 5.3% of children while inpatient and only 4.6% were referred for an inpatient consultation by a separate psychological service. Furthermore, a mere 3.3% of the sample received a psychosocial referral upon discharge. While the majority of the sample (87.4%) received a social work referral, only 52% of those children were actually seen. Finally, while the current study found higher rates of referrals to Child Protective Services (CPS; 82.8%) compared to the previous findings (67.6%), it highlighted that 17.2% of the sample was not referred to CPS despite the mandated referral. This study demonstrated that psychosocial services needed to address the impact of trauma are often not being provided at LLUCH. In an attempt to evaluate if this was a more pervasive problem, researchers reviewed the National Trauma Database and determined that the important search fields for psychosocial supports are not available. This data underscores the importance of improving the coordination of care between pediatric psychology, psychosocial services, and the medical field.

LLU Discipline

Psychology

Department

Psychology

School

School of Behavioral Health

First Advisor

Neece, Cameron L.

Second Advisor

Aréchiga, Adam L.

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Degree Level

Psych.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2019

Date (Title Page)

9-2019

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Child Abuse - therapy; Psychology - Social; Psychology - Child; Clinical child psychology

Subject - Local

Non-accidental trauma; Psychosocial interventions; Pediatric psychology; Hospitals

Type

Doctoral Project

Page Count

66 p.

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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