Young people in foster care have often been removed due to the exposure of multiple traumas. Once removed from the family home they can then also face numerous placement moves and the separation from their siblings. Looked after Children (LAC) are known to have elevated levels of mental health difficulties, specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The current study aimed to explore possible predictors for LAC Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) and whether or not their significant appraisals mediated this relationship. Young person and foster carer trauma exposure and PTSS data was collected and after controlling for the number of traumas a young person had experienced, only being separated from a sibling was a significant predictor of foster carer reported PTSS. Young person PTSS was not significantly associated with any predictors and there was no mediation effect of cognitive appraisals found. Future research should further explore predictors of PTSS with a large sample size.
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology : Main Research Portfolio: 1) A systematic review of psychological interventions for comorbid Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Eating Disorders; 2) Asking the difficult questions: How to assess for domestic violence and abuse with people with a learning disability; 3) Exploring potential predictors for PTSD symptom severity in Looked after Children.
Banting, R. (Author). 15 Sept 2017
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy)