Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child Outcomes in School Settings: Implications for Development, Intervention, and Pedagogy

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic or otherwise stressful experiences that expose children to inconsistent caregiving and unpredictable threat and reduce access to safe and secure sources of social and emotional support in the home. ACEs have been linked to poor health outcomes and internalizing and externalizing mental health problems. ACEs also impede school adjustment, reducing children’s ability to seek and receive stable, consistent, and supportive care from teachers, contributing to reduced engagement and impaired social functioning. While ACEs have been studied extensively, research is needed to strengthen understanding of 1) how developmental processes link early ACEs with school adjustment difficulties across school settings, 2) how early intervention may ameliorate the negative effects of ACEs, and 3) how this knowledge influences trauma-informed intervention implementation and pedagogy with teachers in schools. To this end, the first paper in this symposium reports on associations between early ACEs exposure and children's fifth-grade outcomes and suggests several mechanisms of action by which ACEs undermine school adjustment. The second paper presents findings from a social-emotional and language skill building preschool intervention and shows how this intervention promoted youth resilience in early adolescence, significantly buffering children from the negative impact of early ACEs on social-emotional distress and school bonding. Finally, the third paper presents on findings from a pilot study that aimed to explore how an implementation science framework can elucidate mechanisms to support the implementation and effectiveness of a trauma-informed pedagogical approach in classrooms.

Sub Unit

• Prevention and Interventions

Chair

• Michael Thomas Sanders, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Discussant

• Karen L Bierman, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Individual Presentations

• Direct and Indirect Effects of Early Adverse Childhood Experiences on School Adjustment Across Elementary School - Presenting Author: Meghan Elizabeth McDoniel, Child Trends -Maryland; Non-Presenting Author: Karen L Bierman, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

• Promoting Resilience: A Preschool Intervention Enhances the Adolescent Adjustment of Children Exposed to Early Adversity - Presenting Author: Michael Thomas Sanders, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Janet A Welsh, Pennsylvania State University; Non-Presenting Author: Karen L Bierman, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Brenda S Heinrichs, Pennsylvania State University

• Examining Implementation Outcomes for the Trauma Sensitive Pedagogy Pilot Study for Early Childhood Educators - Presenting Author: Carlomagno Panlilio, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Christy Tirrell-Corbin, University of Maryland - College Park