Exploring the Intersection Between Social and Emotional Learning Programs and a Trauma-Informed Schools Approach: A Pilot of Mindup in High Risk Kindergarten Contexts

Introduction: Family violence and adversity can negatively affect children’s development. Consequently, the notion of trauma-informed schools (TIS) is gaining considerable momentum, although one criticism of the TIS trend is that it is vague. This presentation describes an innovative pilot to implement a mindfulness-focused social and emotional learning program within a TIS framework. One of the key processes through which trauma is linked to emotional and behavioral problems is through impaired self-regulation. Mindfulness-based interventions have emerged as one avenue for enhancing children’s self-regulation. MindUP is a social-emotional, mindfulness-based, teacher-led education program that incorporates attentional, self-regulatory, social and emotional strategies for children. The effectiveness of MindUP has been supported in recent studies with older children, demonstrating improvement in perspective-taking, emotional control, optimism, cognitive control and stress physiology. Consistent with a TIS framework, mindfulness may also be an important tool for educators to avoid being reactive to students' disruptive behaviors. In this pilot, educators received both trauma-sensitivity training and MindUP training, with an emphasis on the fit between the two approaches, prior to implementing the MindUP program in their classrooms. Methods: Participants included educators and children from 13 kindergarten classrooms (N = 23 educators and 208 students) in high-needs schools. Educators completed the ARTIC to measure their trauma-informed attitudes at three time points: prior to trauma-informed and MindUP training, prior to implementing MindUP, and following the implementation of MindUP. Educators completed the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children – 3 (BASC-3) for each child pre and post intervention. Focus groups were conducted with educators to gain a richer description of their experience implementing MindUP, and the extent to which they saw a convergence between the program and a larger trauma-informed schools approach. Results. Pre-test data indicated a wide range of children’s functioning on the BASC-3. Similarly, educators reported varying degrees of trauma-informed attitudes. Post-intervention analysis are not yet completed. In addition to looking for main effects across the pre- and post-intervention data for children, specific subgroup analysis will investigate whether there is a differential impact for children who had profiles more consistent with trauma exposure at pre-intervention. Multi-level analysis will measure whether there is a classroom-level difference in pre-post patterns, and if so, whether the educators’ gains in trauma-informed attitudes helps explain classroom level differences in children’s gains. It is expected that the program will work better for the individual children who need it most (i.e., those who start with the highlest level of self-regulation difficulties), and in classrooms where the teachers most embrace a trauma-informed perspective. Conclusions: Identifying specific social and emotional learning programs that are complementary with a trauma-informed schools approach provides concrete strategies for moving the TIS agenda forward.