Trauma-Exposed Infants and Toddlers: A Review of Impacts and Evidence-Based Interventions

Melville, Alysse

doi:10.18060/21287

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Traumatic events can be isolated in nature, such as car accidents, natural disasters, painful medical procedures, and more (Melville, 2017;Walkley & Cox, 2013). Alternatively, they can be chronic and prolonged, such as physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect, personal loss, or indirect in nature, such as witnessing abuse (Loomis, 2018;Small & Huser, 2019).…”

Section: What Is Trauma and How Does It Relate To Pain-based Behaviour?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are some feelings just too big for child care?: An exploratory study of Early Childhood Educator’s interpretations of internalizing and externalizing behaviours

Apostolopoulos¹

2022

Preprint

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Young children are at high risk for exposure to trauma and adverse childhood experiences, yet mental health services are limited for this age group. Children’s emotional pain is manifested in their behaviours, which are referred to as externalizing (e.g., aggression) and internalizing (e.g., anxiety) behaviours. Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) are bound to encounter children who exhibit this type of behaviour without knowing what it could mean. Therefore, this online mixed method pilot study examined the interpretations that ECEs used to determine the causes of behaviour, and their awareness of emotional distress in very young children in three written case vignettes. It also explored the strategies that ECEs engage in when responding to a child in distress. The findings provide insight to the gaps in pre-service education on children’s emotional health, and communicates the need for a trauma-informed approach to childcare. Keywords: children’s mental health, behaviour, interpretation, trauma-informed approach

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Section: What Is Trauma and How Does It Relate To Pain-based Behaviour?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are some feelings just too big for child care?: An exploratory study of Early Childhood Educator’s interpretations of internalizing and externalizing behaviours

Apostolopoulos¹

2022

Preprint

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“…Ray, Armstrong, Balkin, and Jayne (2015) found moderate effect sizes for CCPT when used in the school setting, with medium effect sizes for total problem behaviors ( d = 0.34) and academic problems ( d = 0.36). Although research has explored the use of play therapy with children who have experienced traumatic events, play therapy is often not included in literature reviews or meta-analyses on trauma-based treatments (Melville, 2017; Rolfsnes & Idsoe, 2011; Trask, Walsh, & DiLillo, 2011). This exclusion could be the result of a lack of diagnostic criteria for participation in play therapy research.…”

Section: Research Support For Child-centered Play Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring child-centered play therapy and trauma: A systematic review of literature.

Parker

Hergenrather

Smelser

et al. 2021

International Journal of Play Therapy

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Researchers continue to identify increasing rates of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and the devastating effects on individuals into adulthood. The relational focus of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) and the use of toys for personal expression better meets the developmental needs of children who experienced ACEs; however, CCPT is often not included within meta-analyses or explorations of efficacious treatments for children who experienced ACEs. To address this gap, the authors conducted a systematic literature review and explored the existing research on CCPT and ACEs. To explore the utility of CCPT to demonstrate significant therapeutic outcomes for children with a history of trauma. The authors identified 32 between-group design research studies exploring effect of CCPT on children experiencing ACES including childhood poverty, systemic discrimination, attachment difficulties, abuse, and parental incarceration. Additionally, the authors assessed the research quality and potential sources of biases within the identified studies. Findings indicate potential methodological limitations within the current studies and promising results for the use of CCPT with children who experience ACEs. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

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“…Despite the risks associated with early trauma, there are known ways to intervene to buffer or mitigate these outcomes. Mental health interventions to support young children who have experienced trauma have been shown to be effective (Melville, 2017) and are associated with reductions in children’s behavior problems, parenting stress, and child welfare involvement (Lowell, Carter, Godoy, Paulicin, & Briggs-Gowan, 2011). Early childhood trauma-informed interventions are also associated with reductions in children’s trauma symptoms as well as parent symptoms (Lieberman, Ghosh Ippen, & Van Horn, 2006) and are linked to positive outcomes for children with high levels of trauma exposure (Ghosh Ippen, Harris, Van Horn, & Lieberman, 2011).…”

Section: Trauma-informed Systems For Young Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The student–teacher relationship has been a focus of and outcome related to therapeutic preschool programs (Howes & Ritchie, 1998). Guided by attachment theory, a focus on interventions to support children’s relationships with major caregivers, such as teachers, is of particular importance for young children who have experienced trauma (Melville, 2017). A meta-analysis on the association between parent–child relationship patterns and teacher–child relationship patterns found that they tend to be related (Ahnert, Pinquart, & Lamb, 2006); however, teacher characteristics can buffer the impact of insecure parent–child attachment patterns on child behavior issues (Buyse, Verschueren, & Doumen, 2011).…”

Section: Developing Evaluating and Sustaining Trauma-informed Prescmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…School-based targeted interventions for trauma-exposed youth have been found effective in models with older children (Allison & Ferreira, 2017; Jaycox et al, 2012; Mendelson et al, 2015) and have been used in therapeutic preschools (Barfield, Dobson, Gaskill, & Perry, 2012; Oates et al, 1995). Early childhood trauma interventions should incorporate developmentally appropriate themes such as play and a use of the child’s caregiving relationships (Melville, 2017), which in the school context could include teachers, other school staff (such as social workers or psychologists), as well as the child’s primary caregivers. Access to targeted mental health services within a trauma-informed preschool could also include engagement with community mental health agencies to which referrals for developmentally appropriate, evidence-based interventions (such as child–parent psychotherapy) can be made.…”

Section: Developing Evaluating and Sustaining Trauma-informed Prescmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Preschool as a Point of Intervention and Prevention for Trauma-Exposed Children: Recommendations for Practice, Policy, and Research

Loomis

2018

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

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Much progress has been made toward determining "what works" to support the well-being of trauma-exposed young children through mental health interventions. However, compared to the number of young children who have access to mental health services, many more young children have access to preschool. Estimates suggest that one in four (Briggs-Gowan, Ford, Fraleigh, McCarthy, & Carter, 2010) to one in two preschool children have experienced a potentially traumatic event (Jimenez, Wade, Lin, Morrow, & Reichman, 2016) and may be in need of trauma-informed supports. However, only 2.5% of preschool-aged children received mental health services in the last year (Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, 2016), indicating a large gap between exposure to trauma and receipt of services for young children. Comparatively, approximately 48% of children aged 3 and 4 years, almost four million children, are enrolled in preschool annually (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). In some states, upward of 80% of children will have spent at least some time in a preschool setting by the time they reach kindergarten (Updegrove, Long, & Ruth, 2017). Preschools are potential natural systems of care that can be leveraged to support children who have experienced trauma. However, there is little research to suggest best practices for trauma-informed preschools, this despite the fact that young children are exposed to trauma at disproportionate rates compared with older children (Fantuzzo & Fusco, 2007; Lieberman, Chu, Van Horn, & Harris, 2011), the negative effects of which are well-established. This conceptual article details the need for and highlights recommendations to guide the development of trauma-informed preschool models for young children. This article does so by discussing the known prevalence and impact of early trauma, exploring evidence related to early childhood trauma interventions and trauma-informed education for older children, and outlining recommendations for key components of trauma-informed preschool models. Recommendations for policies to support trauma-informed preschool models and for future research are also discussed. Early Adversity Young children experience particularly high rates of adversity and trauma. By age 4, 25% to 50% of preschool-aged 789254T ECXXX10.

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Trauma-Exposed Infants and Toddlers: A Review of Impacts and Evidence-Based Interventions

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

Are some feelings just too big for child care?: An exploratory study of Early Childhood Educator’s interpretations of internalizing and externalizing behaviours

Are some feelings just too big for child care?: An exploratory study of Early Childhood Educator’s interpretations of internalizing and externalizing behaviours

Exploring child-centered play therapy and trauma: A systematic review of literature.

The Role of Preschool as a Point of Intervention and Prevention for Trauma-Exposed Children: Recommendations for Practice, Policy, and Research

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