Adverse Life Events and Trauma-Informed Care: An Examination of Outcomes and Treatment Considerations
Abstract
Interpersonal trauma can have a detrimental impact on child development. Consequently, there is continued need in the literature to better understand how trauma impacts children, including behavioural presentation and communicative ability. Moreover, increasing awareness of these outcomes indicates that an organized strategy is needed in children’s mental health agencies, such that of trauma-informed care education and training. The current research investigated factors related to externalizing behaviour outcomes in a sample of preschoolers in receipt of outpatient care, as well as factors associated with communication outcomes in a sample of children in receipt of mental health service. This research then explores clinician perspectives around a trauma-informed care training program that was designed and implemented to increase knowledge and awareness of trauma on a variety of developmental outcomes and associated care planning needs for children, youth, and parents exposed to trauma. The first study found that exposure to traumatic life events (compared to children with no exposure to traumatic life events) was related to higher externalizing behaviours in a sample of at-risk preschoolers, however, this relationship was attenuated and no longer significant when caregiver distress (compared to no caregiver distress) was added to the model. Results from the second paper extended upon this, by determining that the number of traumas a child is exposed to (polyvictimization), the number of disruptions in care, parenting strengths, sex, and age were relevant factors in understanding communication concerns within a sample of children and youth in receipt of mental health service. Such findings indicated the importance of early identification and intervention in improving outcomes for children. Findings from the third study examined the impact of a trauma-informed care training program designed for children, youth, and parents in receipt of mental health service, including the facilitators and barriers associated with its implementation. Childhood adversity remains a crucial area of investigation for researchers, as are efforts that seek to target, address, and improve such outcomes on an organizational scale.