Understanding emotional struggles in teenagers in foster care

This research study is looking at how teenagers in foster care experience and manage difficult emotions after trauma. Researchers want to better understand the differences between three related conditions—complex post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder—by studying how emotions affect daily life. The study uses both real-world observations and hospital visits to capture what these emotional struggles actually look like.

Many teenagers in foster care have experienced serious trauma, but doctors still don't fully understand how their emotional struggles develop or how to tell the differences between similar trauma-related conditions. This research aims to fill that gap so that teenagers can receive better, more personalized support and treatment.