Healing Horizons: Weekly News & Research - July 11, 2024
Welcome to our weekly news show, Healing Horizons, hosted by experts Bri Twombly and Alison Cebulla. Dive into the most recent updates on trauma-informed care practices, positive and adverse childhood experiences, and the critical concept of psychological safety. Each episode is designed to keep you informed on the latest research, trends, and best practices in these essential areas. Whether you're a healthcare professional, educator, or simply passionate about mental health, our show provides valuable insights and practical advice. Stay tuned for in-depth discussions and expert interviews that will enhance your understanding and application of trauma-informed care and psychological safety.
Here are the news stories and research we featured:
Breaking the Chain: Dr. Olajide Williams on Inherited Trauma and Hip Hop as a Tool for Social Change (skoll.org)
Physician and educator Dr. Olajide Williams co-founded Hip Hop Public Health with hip hop icon Doug E. Fresh after recognizing the transformative power of hip hop music for improving health outcomes in communities of color. Hip Hop Public Health harnesses the power of hip hop music and culture by creating educational resources that teach children about wellbeing and behavioral health in the U.S. and globally.
In many ways, hip hop music encapsulates the intergenerational joys and trauma of the Black American experience.
“The experience of the Black American man has caused rage that has disconnected him from the reality of his pain. Until we get back in touch with the reality of that pain, we won’t understand that it’s driven by internalized racism. Unless we address internalized racism, we’ll continue to transmit this intergenerational trauma. We cannot fix structural racism until we fix internalized racism, and we cannot fix internalized racism until we fix structural racism. We must do both to be successful.“
University of Calgary professors Dr. Sheri Madigan, PhD, and Dr. Tyler Williamson, PhD, developed ACEs Hub, a one-stop shop of all the research that currently exists on how adverse childhood experiences impact health.
To facilitate data accessibility, the website features an intuitive interface that enables users to interact with the data such as exploring results by author, institution, country, and year published.
Local organization supports children thru traumatic events with ‘connection kits’ | WDTN.com
Partnership with Kettering Ohio police department
The Lakes family started this initiative after their children were sexually abused and exploited by a neighbor in 2023.
“Our turtle is meant to tuck in it. Shell if you feel unsafe, that’s what turtles do. So the next kids will have a card for them that will explain to the kid like, yeah, I mean, if you feel unsafe or scared, tuck in your shell because that’s what turtles do,” said Lakes.
Besides the turtles, the kits include things like headphones and coloring books to ease their anxiety. There are also cards for things like food and travel.
The Solace Center works with local hospitals, including UNC Rex, Duke Raleigh and WakeMed. When victims go to the emergency department, they can ask to be sent to the Solace Center. You can also call the Solace Center to make an appointment, if you do not feel comfortable going to the hospital.
All of the nurses at the Solace Center have received specialized training to provide the best care possible. You will also have a trauma advocate by your side during the whole process.
All of the nurses at the Solace Center are sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE), specially trained forensic nurses that provide a holistic approach and trauma-informed care.
The Solace Center has a complete exam room with all the supplies and tools for evidence collection – tools that not every hospital has.
After our work with military veterans, we would argue that reforms should be guided by the principles of trauma-informed practice.
Need to complete multiple assessments
for some veterans, the stress of the assessments, and reassessment of a worsening condition, is detrimental to their health.
Sometimes they can even be re-traumatising. This is particularly true when there is a lack of clarity around the purpose of the assessments, repeat assessments and where those assessing them don’t understand the veteran experience.
BMC Psychology, July 2024
All first-year high school students from two randomly selected schools in Yunnan Province, China, were included in the study. total of 1,329 valid questionnaires were obtained, 38.6% were male and 61.4% were female. The participants’ ages ranged from 16 to 20 years, with a mean age of 16.5 years
The results of this study indicate that childhood trauma significantly and positively predicts nonsuicidal self-injury in high school students, which is consistent with previous research
These findings suggest a potential mechanism whereby childhood trauma enhances high school students’ sensitivity to stress, subsequently amplifying the impact of pre-existing stressful events and ultimately contributing to the emergence of nonsuicidal self-injury.
This indicates that favorable teacher-student relationships may attenuate the impact of childhood trauma on stress perception, ultimately reducing the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury.
Midwifery Women’s Health, June 2024
A concept analysis was conducted and 32 articles met criteria
Researchers defined trust in prenatal ACE screening as a network of evidence-based attributes that include the timing of the screening, patient familiarity with the health care provider, cultural competence, demystifying trauma, open dialogue between the patient and health care provider, and patient comfort and respect.
This concept analysis showed the importance of ACE screening and provided suggestions for establishing trust in the context of prenatal ACE screening. Results give insight and general guidance for health care providers looking to implement ACE screening in a trauma-informed way.
One attribute of trust that both patients and healthcare providers identified as especially important was the timing of ACE screening
Alongside administering the screener after multiple prenatal visits, researchers suggested that it may be helpful to set the stage for screening by explaining the ACE screening tool throughout the first few appointments so that the patient has sufficient time to consider it
Both patients and health care providers report that a trusting patient-provider relationship needs to precede any discussion about childhood trauma
Further research is needed to evaluate pregnant patients' attitudes toward ACE screening and how a health care provider's trauma history might influence their care and to understand the racial, ethnic, and cultural barriers to ACE screening.
Violence and Victims, July 2024
The purpose of this study was to explore potential similarities and differences in the ways boys and girls appraise and interpret their traumatic experiences, and better understand how gender roles, performance, and socialization processes may impact trauma experiences, appraisals, and narratives within the context of trauma-focused treatment.
Researchers used thematic analysis to analyze the trauma narratives of 16 youth ages 8-16 who had experienced multiple types of child maltreatment and who were receiving Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to address clinically elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Four themes emerged: variations in the content of negative cognitions, differences in relational emotion, adoption of socially prescribed gender roles, and symptom differences.
Article behind a paywall
Although many similarities existed in youth's trauma narratives, differences emerged that point to the importance of social context and the ways gender role expectations and socialization processes influence youth's appraisal of and responses to traumatic events.
Findings indicate the importance of considering distress tolerance, relational emotion, gender identity development, and role socialization within the treatment milieu.
Child Abuse & Neglect, August 2024
new research study led by the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Department of Psychology.
Adolescents who have experienced childhood trauma such as physical, sexual or psychological abuse and have resorted to misusing substances to cope with the aftermath are more likely to develop problematic substance-use behaviours later in life.
adolescents at several schools in Cape Town, and approximately 690 learners between the ages of 13 and 18 participated in the study.
An adolescent’s history of childhood maltreatment significantly increased the severity of their substance-related challenges. In addition, respondents indicated that they used substances as a coping mechanism to help them deal with past traumatic incidents.
The research study found that peer pressure also increased the risk of problematic alcohol use among respondents.
Childhood trauma begets substance abuse among adolescents | UCT News
Psychological Medicine, May 2024
investigators conducted a prospective cohort study to explore the long-term predictive ability of ACEs in forecasting outcomes of psychotic disorders, controlling for confounders of obstetric complications, family risk for schizophrenia, and socioeconomic status.
243 participants
The investigators observed that 55% of individuals with psychosis had a documented history of ACEs at mild or higher levels, and ACEs were more prevalent and severe in schizophrenia relative to any other psychotic disorders
Further, the investigators noted a dose-response relationship between levels of ACEs and the severity of outcome domains, in which individuals with high levels of exposure to ACEs had worse long-term outcomes – particularly for positive and negative symptoms, all role functioning variables, immediate verbal learning, and processing speed.
Frontiers in Child Adolescence and Psychiatry, July 2024
Narrative review aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of how the many changes and challenges associated with the pandemic influenced worldwide occurrences of child maltreatment and, subsequently, the mental health of children and adolescents.
Presents the well-established evidence regarding the impact of child maltreatment on the mental health of children and adolescents both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Examines the existing literature on the prevalence of child maltreatment during the pandemic, explanations for conflicting findings, and key mechanisms influencing the prevalence of maltreatment.
Discusses risk and protective factors for maltreatment as well as mechanisms by which maltreatment operates to influence child and adolescent mental health.
Then based on the accumulated evidence, they provide important recommendations for advancing research on child maltreatment, emphasizing the necessity for routine monitoring of maltreatment exposure at a population level, and discussing the implications for the field of child protection.
Frontiers in Psychology, July 2024
This review aimed to examine the effects of trauma-informed interventions on improving the mother-child relationship among mothers with a history of trauma and their young children under six years old
The study analyzed fifteen articles that met the eligibility criteria, encompassing a sample size of 1,321 mothers.
The study found that while some interventions demonstrated small to large effects, the quality of evidence was only moderate. The most promising interventions were Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), and Maternal Empowerment Program (MEP), which all included elements of psychotherapy, psychoeducation, and skills training.
The study underscores the importance of understanding the needs of mother child dyads affected by trauma and tailoring interventions to meet those needs. Overall, the literature suggests that interventions combining psychotherapeutic, psychoeducational, and skills-training components are most effective in improving mother and child-related outcomes for mothers with a history of trauma and their young children
Pediatrics, July 2024
data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCWB) Study
Trajectories of insecurity: There were three different trajectories of housing insecurity in the study, labeled as “secure,” “moderately insecure,” and “highly insecure.” Of the 4714 children included in the analysis, 47.3% were classified as secure, 46.4% classified as moderately insecure, and 6.3% as highly insecure.
Group characteristics: The secure group had the highest proportion of people who were married, higher educational attainment, and larger household income; conversely, the highly insecure group had the lowest educational attainment and more people living below the poverty line.
Experience with housing insecurity indicators: Half of those children in the highly insecure group experienced two or more of the above indicators until age 5. Interestingly, the number of indicators experienced seemed to peak early and decrease drastically in adolescence.
Effect on adolescents: The adolescents in the highly insecure group, compared to their peers in the secure group, exhibited significantly more depressive and anxiety symptoms. They were also less likely to describe their self-reported overall health as “very good” or “excellent.”
the authors demonstrated several interesting findings, one being that children who experience housing insecurity early in their life are at increased risk for poorer outcomes in adolescence.
This article challenges us to move beyond screening. In our practices, we have the ability to affect policy, advocate for changes, and approach community organizations with cultural humility.
