Youth involved in the juvenile justice system report high rates of exposure to traumatic events (\>90%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 20-50%). Although youth offenders are routinely assessed and referred for mental health services, few receive evidence-based interventions for PTSD. The current study evaluates an innovative approach to overcoming this problem: train front-line juvenile justice staff to deliver PTSD treatment groups. To determine the preliminary effectiveness and safety of PTSD groups delivered by juvenile justice staff, investigators will compare outcomes for youth offenders randomly assigned to receive evidence-based PTSD group treatment or treatment as usual (i.e., referral to community mental health clinic). Investigators hypothesize that PTSD groups led by justice staff will lead to significantly better youth outcomes (mental health symptoms, re-arrest) compared to treatment as usual.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
TARGET is manualized cognitive-behavioral treatment designed to help adolescents and adults with symptoms of posttraumatic stress
It involves referral to an offsite community mental health provider with no attempt to control the treatment modality-type-quality (i.e., evidence-based-treatment or not).
Youth PTSD symptoms
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5 version will be administered to assess youth symptom severity (range 0-124).
Time frame: 8 Weeks
Youth PTSD re-arrest
Number of times subject is arrested during study participation
Time frame: 8 Weeks
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