1-212 - Promoting Healthy Youth Development through Trauma-Informed Practice: Promise, Challenges, and Future Directions

Session Type: Conversation Roundtable

Integrative Statement

The past two decades have seen a surge in research on trauma-informed practice (TIP) for children and adolescents exposed to potentially traumatic events, including racism/discrimination, abuse/neglect, and violence. These practices involve efforts to increase awareness of traumatic stress throughout a system (e.g., education, juvenile justice, child welfare) to enhance the quality and delivery of services provided to youth to promote thriving (Bracey, Arzubi, Vanderploeg, & Franks, 2013; Hanson & Lang, 2016). A growing body of research suggests the developmental benefits of youth participation in trauma-informed interventions, including reduced internalizing and externalizing problems and enhanced social and emotional skills (Cohen et al., 2016; Collins et al., 2011). However, variation in TIP definitions, measures, and implementation strategies across the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, developmental science, and public health poses challenges to researchers and practitioners (Champine, Matlin, Strambler, & Tebes, 2018; Tebes, Champine, Matlin, & Strambler, 2018). This roundtable will be moderated by Dr. Robey Champine and will explore the following question: “What conceptual and methodological challenges have emerged from the growing scope of research on TIP for children and adolescents, and what are the implications of this work for future research, policy, and practice?” This discussion will advance understanding of the state of the literature on TIP and will elucidate challenges related to how we define, implement, measure, and sustain data-driven practices that aim to optimize development among trauma-affected youth. Discussion will highlight gaps in the literature, lessons learned from the field, and potential directions for future research and practice.

Sub Unit

• Prevention and Interventions

Moderator

• Robey B. Champine, Yale University

Panelists

• Jacob K. Tebes, Yale School of Medicine

• Samantha Matlin, The Scattergood Foundation

• Jeana Bracey, Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc.