Smith, Jackson, Zhang, Yuxin (Jasmine), Colucci, Laura, Urusov, Alexey, Sloss, Imogen, Eckert, Lillian, Price-Cameron, Mary, and Browne, Dillon
Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of gender differences in psychopathology in children and adolescents (Hayward, 2021; Hudziak, 2007) based on measures of symptomatology and diagnostic criteria. Although informative, these approaches conceptualize mental health difficulties as latent phenomena, whereas recent perspectives suggest that psychopathology may be better conceptualized as a systemic network in which symptoms are mutually reinforcing and interdependently influential (Borsboom, 2021). To date, limited research has applied a network perspective to explore mental health symptoms in children and adolescents, particularly those who have been exposed to trauma and adversity. As such, the present study aims to conduct a network analysis of complex trauma symptoms in children who are involved with child protection services, with a focus on gender differences. Borsboom, D., Deserno, M. K., Rhemtulla, M., Epskamp, S., Fried, E. I., McNally, R. J., Robinaugh, D. J., Perugini, M., Dalege, J., Costantini, G., Isvoranu, A.-M., Wysocki, A. C., van Borkulo, C. D., van Bork, R., & Waldorp, L. J. (2021). Network analysis of multivariate data in psychological science. Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-021-00055-w Hayward, C., & Sanborn, K. (2002). Puberty and the emergence of gender differences in psychopathology. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30(4), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00336-1 Hudziak, J. J., Achenbach, T. M., Althoff, R. R., & Pine, D. S. (2007). A dimensional approach to developmental psychopathology. International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 16(S1), S16-S23. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.217