Poster #173 - English Language Learning Students’ Utilization of School-Based PTSD Intervention

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

Latino families continue to experience disparities in access to healthcare. Latino families are more likely to be uninsured and lack access to specialty services compared with other racial and ethnic groups (Flores & Tomany-Korman, 2008). Poverty can exacerbate these effects (Alegria et al., 2002). Further, non-English speaking Latino patients are less likely to receive mental health treatment than their English-speaking counterpart (Sentell, Shumway, & Snowden, 2007).
School-based interventions may facilitate access and utilization of care for children from Spanish-speaking families. Latino children from low-income families are particularly vulnerable to exposure to traumatic events, such as the exposure to immigration and deportation (Garrison, Roy, & Azar, 1999). In a study of PTSD treatment, children randomized to receive school based services demonstrated greater retention than those who received outpatient treatment (Jaycox et al., 2010). Bounce Back (BB), a school-based group intervention for elementary school aged children with PTSD has growing evidence of its effectiveness for typically underserved populations (Langley, Gonzalez, Sugar, Solis, & Jaycox, 2015). However, less is known about the process by which Spanish-speaking children are enrolled, that is, their referral and screening process. Thus, the current study tested whether ELL status predicted parent referral rates, students’ responses on trauma-focused screening items, and qualification for a school-based PTSD intervention.
BB was introduced to a Title 1 urban public elementary school consisting of N=590 KN-5th grade students (46% ELL). Parents or teachers referred (n = 184) students to complete a trauma-focused screening to identify needs. Students completed the Traumatic Events Screening Inventory for Children (TESI-C; Ippen et al., 2002) to measure trauma exposure, and the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-5 (UCLA-R Steinberg et al., 2013) to measure PTS symptoms. Program eligibility was determined by at least one traumatic exposure, and a score of 22 on the UCLA-R (Langley, 2015).
Students’ ELL status was not associated with parental referral to screening (51% of referred students were ELL), exposure to trauma, or level of PTS symptoms or internalizing problems. ELL and non-ELL students qualified for groups at similar rates and parental consents to treat were obtained at similar rates. These results contrast existing results showing that ELL students in this sample reported lower rates of externalizing problems than did non-ELL students (MASKED, 2018).
Results revealed no disparities between ELL and non-ELL students’ access and eligibility for BB. School-based, trauma-focused screening was acceptable to Spanish-speaking, Latino families in this study, which emphasizes the clinical importance of utilizing the school environment to improve access to care. Future research should further examine ELL students’ response to intervention.

Authors

• Adina M. Seidenfeld, University of Delaware
  Presenting Author

• Stevie N. Grassetti, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
  Non-Presenting Author

• Briana Haut, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Timothy R. Fowles, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ryan M. Beveridge, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author