About this Research Topic
Whilst trauma exposure is a major public health concern, not all young people who are exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) go on to develop mental health difficulties and some find ways to promote their wellbeing. Several factors can influence young people’s outcomes, ranging from individual-level factors such as emotion regulation skills to system-level factors including neighborhood deprivation. Within the group that develops mental health difficulties, the clinical presentation also varies, with implications for intervention. Exposure to PTEs can be characterized by type, frequency, duration, and timing, which interact with inter- and intra-personal factors to impact health outcomes.
We put forward a call for research that offers a nuanced understanding of processes underpinning risk and resilience. The heterogeneity in responses to PTEs and in the mechanisms that characterize pathways to mental health and wellbeing following trauma exposure in childhood and adolescence requires ongoing research attention to improve efforts for early prevention and intervention.
The aim of this Research Topic is to advance research on child and adolescent mental health in the context of exposure to PTEs, with a particular focus on the effect of risk and resilience. We encourage submissions from research that examines the role of systemic factors, including social, economic, and cultural factors, both in their capacity to be protective or create risk.
We welcome Original, Observational and Review Studies on the following topics:
- The mental health effect of exposure to specific and/or multiple types of PTEs in childhood and adolescence
- Mechanisms linking PTEs in childhood and adolescence to mental health outcomes across the lifespan
- Risk factors that contribute to psychological comorbidity following exposure to PTEs in childhood and adolescence
- Developmental considerations when characterizing mental health outcomes in the context of PTEs in childhood and adolescence
- Protective factors that promote wellbeing following exposure to PTEs in childhood and adolescence
We put forward a call for research that offers a nuanced understanding of processes underpinning risk and resilience. The heterogeneity in responses to PTEs and in the mechanisms that characterize pathways to mental health and wellbeing following trauma exposure in childhood and adolescence requires ongoing research attention to improve efforts for early prevention and intervention.
The aim of this Research Topic is to advance research on child and adolescent mental health in the context of exposure to PTEs, with a particular focus on the effect of risk and resilience. We encourage submissions from research that examines the role of systemic factors, including social, economic, and cultural factors, both in their capacity to be protective or create risk.
We welcome Original, Observational and Review Studies on the following topics:
- The mental health effect of exposure to specific and/or multiple types of PTEs in childhood and adolescence
- Mechanisms linking PTEs in childhood and adolescence to mental health outcomes across the lifespan
- Risk factors that contribute to psychological comorbidity following exposure to PTEs in childhood and adolescence
- Developmental considerations when characterizing mental health outcomes in the context of PTEs in childhood and adolescence
- Protective factors that promote wellbeing following exposure to PTEs in childhood and adolescence
Keywords: risk, resilience, trauma, adolescent mental health, child mental health, protective factors
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
