Family-Based Prevention of Child Traumatic Stress.

Most children experience potentially traumatic events, and some develop significant emotional and behavioral difficulties in response. Although the field has mainly focused on treatment, a prevention framework provides an alternate approach to reducing the public health burden of trauma. Because parents and families can affect children's trauma exposure and reactions, family-based preventive interventions represent a unique opportunity to address child traumatic stress. This article discusses family-based programs that address child traumatic stress across 3 categories: preventing children's exposure to traumatic events, preventing traumatic stress reactions following exposure, and preventing negative long-term sequelae of trauma.