Topical Review: Families Coping With Child Trauma: A Naturalistic Observation Methodology.

OBJECTIVE: To introduce a novel, naturalistic observational methodology (the Electronically Activated Recorder; EAR) as an opportunity to better understand the central role of the family environment in children's recovery from trauma. METHODS: Discussion of current research methods and a systematic literature review of EAR studies on health and well-being. RESULTS: Surveys, experience sampling, and the EAR method each provide different opportunities and challenges for studying family interactions. We identified 17 articles describing relevant EAR studies. These investigated questions of emotional well-being, communicative behaviors, and interpersonal relationships, predominantly in adults. 5 articles reported innovative research in children, triangulating EAR-observed behavioral data (e.g., on child conflict at home) with neuroendocrine assay, sociodemographic information, and parent report. Finally, we discussed psychometric, practical, and ethical considerations for conducting EAR research with children and families. CONCLUSIONS: Naturalistic observation methods such as the EAR have potential for pediatric psychology studies regarding trauma and the family environment.

Ear for recovery: protocol for a prospective study on parent-child communication and psychological recovery after paediatric injury.

INTRODUCTION: One in six children who have been admitted to hospital with an injury develop persistent stress symptoms that put their development at risk. Parents play a crucial role in children's psychological recovery, however, it is unknown how specific parenting behaviours can help or hinder. We aim to describe the nature and quantity of parent-child communication after a child has been injured, and to examine how these interactions are related to children's psychological recovery. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We are conducting a prospective observational study among children aged 3-16 years, who have been admitted to a tertiary children's hospital with a serious injury. Data collection involves a naturalistic observation of spontaneous, everyday parent-child communication at home, shortly after discharge, and an assessment of children's psychological recovery at 6 weeks and 3 months post-injury. Main analyses comprise descriptive statistics, cluster analysis and analyses of variance. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (33103) and Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (CF13/2515-2013001322). We aim to disseminate the findings through international peer-reviewed journals, international conferences and social media. Participants will be sent a summary of the overall study findings.