Exploring Differential Trauma-Informed Approaches in Early Childhood Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Impact of Self-Reflection and Skills Training on Teacher Attitudes and Child Expulsion Risk

Background and Purpose: Childhood trauma can increase preschooler’s risk for behavioral problems, poor student-teacher relationships, and expulsion (Loomis, 2020; Zeng et al., 2019). Despite increased focus on trauma-informed school approaches, little work has focused on child or teacher outcomes associated with different trauma-informed training content (Purtle, 2018). This gap makes it difficult to know which trauma-informed approaches are most effective at reducing trauma-related risks within preschool settings. The current study used a randomized design to examine whether two different trauma-informed trainings had differential influences on teacher attitudes/stress regulation and child expulsion risk. Based on prior work linking self-focused training to stronger trauma-informed attitudes, and stronger trauma-informed attitudes to lower expulsion risk, we hypothesized that self-focused training would be related to greater decreases in child expulsion risk and associated indicators compared to skills training.

Methods: Teachers were recruited from seven preschool programs in a western state and randomized to receive training focused on either trauma-informed skills (e.g., managing trauma-related behaviors) or self-reflection (e.g., the influence of child trauma behaviors on teacher well-being). A total of 73 teachers completed the trainings (29 skills and 44 self-reflection) and pre/post-training surveys from 2020-2022. The trainings, developed and facilitated by graduate students under the supervision of the PI, consisted of 3 x 2-hour monthly sessions. Before and after training, teachers completed a survey on their trauma-informed attitudes (Baker et al., 2018) and emotion regulation strategies (Gross & John, 2003) and measures for four randomly selected students from their class, including student-teacher relationship (Pianta, 2001) and expulsion risk (Gilliam & Reyes, 2018).

Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to estimate change in outcomes over time (Level 1) and between-teacher differences (Level 2; training group). Covariates included teacher role, prior trauma-informed training, and child race/ethnicity.

Results:

There were significant increases in student-teacher closeness (p < .001) and decreases in classroom disruption (p = .025), an expulsion risk indicator, from pre- to post-training. Child gender and racial disparities in expulsion risk indicators were noted and gaps did not decrease as a result of training. No person-level variance in slope was indicated, so training content was not examined as a level 2 predictor for child outcomes.

For teacher-level variables, the Trauma-Informed Reactions subscale (secondary trauma responses) significantly increased from pre- to post-training (p = .032). There were significant increases in reappraisal emotion regulation strategies (p < .001) and marginal decreases in suppression strategies (p = .063) from pre- to post-training, which have implications for expulsion risk. Based on statistically significant variance in the slope for teacher outcomes, training group was added as a level-2 predictor but was not significant.

Conclusions and Implications

The current study illustrates the promise of trauma-informed training in addressing teacher-level factors (e.g., emotion regulation) that may be linked to expulsion risk but not in reducing child expulsion risk directly or racial or gender disparities in expulsion risk. In the current study, the content of training did not differentially influence training outcomes; future research could include classroom observations to examine more nuances in trauma-informed expulsion prevention efforts.