Abstract
BackgroundProfessional caregivers working in child and youth welfare institutions are frequently faced with the complex mental health issues, emotional needs and challenging coping strategies of clients with cumulated traumatic experiences, leaving them prone to developing high levels of stress, burn-out and compassion fatigue. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a milieu-therapeutic approach that aims to promote the self-efficacy and self-care of youth welfare staff by guiding them to a better understanding of their own and their clients’ stress symptoms and countertransference. Despite increasing efforts to implement TIC practices, and more widespread recognition of their value in youth welfare systems, there is a lack of studies evaluating the effectiveness of this approach. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of TIC practices in youth welfare institutions on both the physiological stress of staff members and clients’ physical aggression towards their caregivers. .MethodsData was obtained from a longitudinal study investigating the effectiveness of TIC in 14 residential youth welfare institutions. Our sample consisted of 47 youth welfare employees (66.0% female) aged from 23 to 60 years (M = 37.4, SD = 10.4 years). Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) and occurrences of client physical aggression were assessed at four annual measurement time points (T1 to T4).ResultsParticipants in five institutions employing TIC practices (intervention group) showed significantly lower HCC at T4 than staff members from institutions who did not receive training in TIC (control group), indicating reduced physiological stress levels. At T4, the intervention group reported significantly less physical aggression than the control group.ConclusionsTIC might be a promising approach for reducing the emotional burden of employees and institutions should invest in training their staff in TIC practices. More research is necessary, to investigate the benefits and efficacy of TIC, both to youths and staff members, and to foster a better understanding of which specific factors may contribute to stress reduction.
Highlights
Professional caregivers working in child and youth welfare institutions are frequently faced with the complex mental health issues, emotional needs and challenging coping strategies of clients with cumulated traumatic experiences, leaving them prone to developing high levels of stress, burn-out and compassion fatigue
Youth welfare staff in the Control group (CG) were significantly more often exposed to physical aggression at time 4 than
We investigated the impact of Trauma-informed care (TIC) practices on Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) and occurrence of client physical aggression among youth welfare staff in a longitudinal study
Summary
Professional caregivers working in child and youth welfare institutions are frequently faced with the complex mental health issues, emotional needs and challenging coping strategies of clients with cumulated traumatic experiences, leaving them prone to developing high levels of stress, burn-out and compassion fatigue. Youths with a trauma history, those living in residential care, have an elevated risk of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, externalising disorders, substance abuse, or risk-taking behaviour [2, 3] These traumatic experiences can have long-lasting effects on the young person’s concept of self, cognitive control mechanisms and problem solving, relationships with others, and attachment to caregivers [4,5,6]. TIC concepts should not be limited to residential group homes and youth welfare institutions [10] They are relevant for all psychosocial settings, such as juvenile justice institutions [11, 12], special needs schools, child and adolescent, as well as, adult psychiatric settings [13], paediatric health care networks [14], shelters for the homeless, refugee centres (9), rehabilitation and detox centres [15] etc. Overall the implementation of TIC is associated with higher staff satisfaction [22]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
