At least half of adults will have experienced a traumatic event in childhood, while one in 10 will have four or more traumatic experiences when they are young.
The impact of such experiences will vary from person to person, but research by the Early Intervention Foundation has shown that people who had a high number of adverse childhood experiences had a strong likelihood of violent behaviour and problematic drug use and increased likelihood of poor mental health, alcohol misuse and sexual risk taking.
Other studies have shown that exposure to trauma at a young age is strongly linked to multiple disadvantages as an adult.
The growing body of evidence on the links between childhood trauma and poorer life outcomes as an adult has resulted in increased recognition among agencies on the need to provide therapeutic interventions to reduce the impact that such events have and where possible prevent lasting damage.
Trauma-informed practices are ways of supporting people that recognise specific needs they have as a result of past or ongoing trauma. Survivors of trauma may have specific needs that must be met to help them properly access and benefit from the services statutory and voluntary sector agencies provide.
CYP Now’s special report on trauma-informed practice features brief summarises of recent research on the impact of trauma and the effectiveness of interventions, and highlights two services delivering innovative impactful work in this area. Meanwhile, there is a policy focus on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on levels of trauma experienced by children and young people that includes contributions from a range of experts from across the children’s service sector.
Research evidence:
- Protecting the psychological health of children through effective communication about COVID-19
- History of childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced fractional anisotropy of the accumbofrontal ‘reward’ tract in healthy adults
- Practitioner Review: Twenty years of research with adverse childhood experience scores – Advantages, disadvantages and applications to practice
Practice examples:
