Pathways between trauma-informed teacher training and indicators of child and teacher well-being in a Utah and national sample

 

Project Description:

The overall goal of this study is to identify the relationship between Trauma-informed (TI) teacher training and child/teacher outcomes. In particular, this study will examine TI attitudes as a mechanism through which TI training influences child expulsion risk and teacher stress.

 

Abstract:

Nationally, about half of preschool-aged children—almost 4 million children—attend preschool each year, many of whom will have already experienced some type of trauma or childhood adversity, such as maltreatment or witnessing domestic violence. Trauma disproportionately impacts young children and has a demonstrated negative influence on early socioemotional development, academics, and long-term health. Trauma-informed (TI) school-based interventions, which often include training for teachers, are increasingly being explored as a way to promote the well-being of children who have experienced trauma. However, because of the paucity of research examining whether and how specific components of TI school-based models uniquely contribute to child and teacher well-being, it is difficult to identify the most critical components of TI interventions. Further, few of these interventions have been developed and evaluated specifically for preschool-aged children. The overall goal of this study is to identify the relationship between TI teacher training and child/teacher outcomes. In particular, this study will examine TI attitudes as a mechanism through which TI training influences child expulsion risk and teacher stress. The study will explore these relationships in two samples of preschool teachers, a Utah sample (N=400) and a nationally recruited sample (N=500), in order to determine the feasibility of conducting future pilot intervention research with Utah preschool teachers that can be generalized for national samples. Once the mechanisms are known through which TI training influences outcomes, interventions can be developed that specifically target these mechanisms. This study will help lay the foundation for future research geared toward developing effective TI preschool interventions that improve outcomes for trauma exposed young children as well as teachers.

 

Outcomes:

Multigroup models revealed significantly different pathways for students of color (Black, Latinx, and American Indian students) compared to White students; teacher stress predicted higher expulsion decision risk for students of color and trauma-informed attitudes predicted lower expulsion decision risk for White students (Loomis & Panlilio, under review).

The data from the current project was used to inform a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) R03 grant proposal submitted in February 2021 titled “Relating Mechanisms of Trauma-Informed care to School Readiness and Risk in Preschool Settings“ (PI: Loomis, unfunded) and an Institute of Education Science (IES) Education Research Grant proposal titled “Identifying Teaching Practices Associated with Trauma-Informed Care in Preschool Classrooms” (PI: Loomis)  submitted in September 2021. Both of these proposals build off of the current project by proposing to examine observable teaching practices associated with high trauma-informed attitudes, in an attempt to characterize what trauma-informed teaching looks like in the classroom. These proposals also aim to link trauma-informed attitudes and practices to key child outcomes in which racial disparities persist, including expulsion risk and student-teacher relationships.

 

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