The Impact of Social Work Education in Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: An Evaluation of a Specialized Undergraduate Research Course

This study examines the effectiveness of a specialized undergraduate research course that focuses on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), data-driven approaches (EBP), and continuous quality improvement (CQI). The specialized course is a collaborative effort between the Social Work Program at Eastern New Mexico University and the developers of the 100% Community Model. Social Research I and II course knowledge was assessed through pre, mid, and post-surveys; students also completed the ACEs questionnaire. The study aimed to determine if the specialized research curriculum was efficacious in students’ mastery and comprehension of ACEs, EBP, and CQI to ultimately impact the prevention of adverse childhood experiences in students’ future social work careers.

A formative evaluation assessed BSW student learning within this tailored, specialized research course. The course was designed to increase foundational knowledge and skills application within data-driven approaches and continuous quality improvement within the context of adverse childhood experiences. The design is descriptive and mid-level, using related samples with quantitative secondary data analyses. Social Research I and II were taught to 150 students over seven semesters, employing non-probability, purposive sampling. Two measurements were used, a course-specific learning pretest, mid-test, and post-test, and the ACEs questionnaire. Statistical analyses were inferential hypothesis testing and followed the assumptions for the dependent t-test for related samples measured twice, using nonparametric alternatives.

Results showed a significant increase in comprehension from pretest to posttest, with a medium effect size. However, treatment effect was greater from pretest to mid-test. Nonparametric ANOVA tests were significant from pretest to mid-test to post-test, with Freidman mean ranks for the mid-test showing more improvement than post-test ranks. The Freidman calculations also revealed that students who did not have adverse childhood experiences did not do better on pretest, mid-test, and post-test comprehension, nor did students reporting 1-3 ACEs events, with the latter group showing a decrease in learning from mid-test to post-test. For high-risk ACEs participants, the Freidman test was significant (χ² (2) = 9.391, p<.01), showing students with high-risk ACEs scores performed better across the pretest, mid-test, and post-test. An ordinal logistic regression analysis indicated students reporting four or more adverse childhood experiences are more likely to show increased improvement from the pretest to mid-test than their counterparts.

The integration of ACEs, EBP, and CQI into social work education is a critical step in equipping future social workers with the knowledge and skills necessary to prevent and mitigate childhood trauma. The course evaluation results demonstrate the potential for such educational initiatives to enhance students' understanding and capacity to address ACEs in their professional practice, founded in specialized research curriculum. Findings imply that mastery can be achieved over a shortened duration, within a semester, for effective skill and knowledge attainment. The primary finding that BSW students with high-risk ACEs scores performed better than their counterparts suggests that epistemic advantage benefits knowledge attainment within this specialized research curriculum.