Social‐emotional competence trajectories from a school‐based child trauma symptom intervention in a disadvantaged community

Gender, racial-ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in the development of social-emotional competence among elementary school students

Social-emotional competence (SEC) has been demonstrated to be a crucial factor for student mental health and is malleable through the high-quality implementation of effective school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. SEL is now widely practiced in the United States as a Tier 1 strategy for the entire student body, yet it remains unclear whether disparities exist in the development of SEC across socio-culturally classified subgroups of students. Also, despite the field's widespread concern about teacher bias in assessing SEC within diverse student bodies, little evidence is available on the measurement invariance of the SEC assessment tools used to explore and facilitate SEC development. Based on a sociocultural view of student SEC development, this study aimed to measure and examine the extent to which gender, racial-ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities exist in SEC developmental trajectories during elementary school years. Specifically, using 3 years of SEC assessment data collected from a districtwide SEL initiative (N = 5452; Grades K-2 at baseline; nine measurement occasions), this study (a) tested the measurement invariance of a widely-used, teacher-rated SEC assessment tool (DESSA-Mini) across student gender, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES); and (b) examined the extent to which multiyear SEC growth trajectories differed across these subgroups under a routine SEL practice condition. The invariance testing results supported strict factorial invariance of the DESSA-Mini across all the examined subgroups, thereby providing a foundation for valid cross-group comparisons of student SEC growth. The piecewise latent growth modeling results indicated that boys (vs. girls), Black students (vs. White students), Hispanic students (vs. White students), and low-income students (vs. middle-to-high-income students) started with a lower level of SEC, with these gaps being sustained or slightly widened throughout 3 elementary school years. Based on these findings, this study calls for future research that can inform practice efforts to ensure equitable SEC assessments and produce more equitable SEL outcomes, thereby promoting equity in school mental health.

Mixed Methods Illustration of Teachers' Trauma-Informed Attitudes and Practice

Traumatic events during childhood are crucial to consider when addressing children's social and emotional development, as childhood trauma is associated with negative impacts, including academic achievement. Additionally, positive classroom environments and teachers' trauma-informed attitudes and behavior play a role in supporting recovery from children's trauma-related experiences. Aspire, Connect, Thrive (ACT) is a trauma-informed school-based intervention that examined students' Social Emotional Competence (SEC) and resilience for K-8th grade students in a disadvantaged, urban elementary school in Connecticut contending with the effects of students' exposure to trauma. The present study examines the experience of ACT teachers who received professional development and subsequently implemented learned content in the classroom (N = 17; 70.6% female, mean age = 44 years; 47.1% racial/ethnic minority; mean years teaching = 15.6) through qualitative evidence of trauma sensitivity (observed and self-reported) and clinician-ratings of teachers' positive classroom environment. Quantitative results indicate significant change over time in teachers' attitudes and trauma-informed classroom responses. Interview themes suggest (1) teachers learned from and implemented the intervention content in their classrooms dependent upon the support the teacher was given, (2) teachers' perspectives on the connections between the student-teacher relationship and trauma-informed attitudes or practices influenced teacher behavior, and (3) teachers' own emotions and experiences implementing trauma-informed practices were key to classroom management.

Low Treatment Fidelity as an Indication to Switch Interventions: Pivoting From Child-Parent Psychotherapy to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Early Childhood Trauma

Young children who experience trauma and adverse experiences are at an increased risk of developing an insecure attachment style as well as negative physical and mental health problems. These can include internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, developmental delay, emotional dysregulation, and aggression. Several evidence-based interventions exist to treat young children with symptoms related to trauma, each with different foundational theories. This article presents the case of a 4-year-old boy with posttraumatic stress disorder who was in the middle of a legal fight between caregivers and transitioning between caregivers’ homes. Initially, therapy began with Child-Parent Psychotherapy to address caregivers’ first concerns. Later, the therapeutical approach was switched to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy due to difficulty with treatment fidelity related to caregivers’ symptoms and conflict. This case demonstrates great improvement in treatment fidelity and subsequently problem behaviors after switching to an intervention that allowed to address behavior management shortcomings in a family with ongoing conflict.

Using systems-mapping to address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma: A qualitative study of stakeholder experiences

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma have been linked to decreased psychosocial and physiological health functioning. While various individual and community-level interventions to address ACEs have been reported, one novel approach that has not been explored in detail is a community-engaged causal loop diagramming project, or systems mapping project (SMP), in which diverse stakeholders work together to document the forces that are creating the outcomes and patterns within the community. To better document and understand the impact of participation in an SMP, we conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews with 16 stakeholders who were involved in a systems-mapping process facilitated by a local nonprofit in Eastern North Carolina. We used an iterative, content analysis coding process to generate and analyze themes from these interviews. Three major themes emerged: 1) Recognition and understanding of own trauma, 2) Trauma as both a community issue and an individual issue, and 3) Systems-mapping as a conceptual tool with practical benefits. All participants strongly recommended the systems-mapping approach to other communities and believed that it is a valuable tool for empowerment and provided several considerations for future organizers of similar systems-mapping projects. Our findings suggest that systems mapping is a feasible, transferable, and promising modality for understanding and addressing ACEs at the individual, interpersonal, and community-levels, as well as for putting community voices at the forefront of efforts to address ACEs.