Tell me your story Improving trauma assessment and therapy in children and adolescents

Tell Me Your Story reflects the mission of this research: to enhance and develop evidence-based frameworks that support accurate screening, assessment and personalized therapy, and thereby give voice to children and adolescents impacted by trauma. Childhood and adolescence are critical developmental periods in which exposure to potentially traumatic experiences can have lasting psychological, neurobiological, and social consequences. Although the conceptualization of PTSD in youth has evolved from adult-based criteria toward a more developmentally sensitive framework, accurate screening instruments, standardized assessments, and tailored interventions remain essential.
This dissertation addresses this through five objects in the areas of trauma screening and assessment and the area of therapeutic processes and personalized intervention. Firstly the Dutch trauma Screener (KJTS) demonstrated strong psychometric properties and good diagnostic accuracy in a large clinical sample. Furthermore the diagnostic clinical interview (CAPS-CA-5) is also confirmed as a reliable and clinically valuable gold-standard assessment, revealing the limitations of clinical judgment in the absence of structured diagnostic interviews. Third, a large international study demonstrated that bullying Is highly prevalent and independently associated with PTSD symptoms, highlighting the importance of including bullying routine trauma screening and assessment. Beyond assessment, this dissertation examined therapeutic processes underlying trauma treatment. A systematic analysis of five evidence-based trauma therapies identified shared techniques and mechanisms, supporting more flexible and individualized treatment approaches. In addition, a single-case experimental study of TF-CBT revealed significant symptom reductions during therapy, while also demonstrating substantial fluctuations and the need for ongoing clinical adaptation.
Together, these findings help bridge the gap between research and clinical practice and emphasize that trauma recovery is rarely linear. Accurate assessment and individualized treatment are therefore essential to truly hear and support the stories of traumatized youth.