Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Enhance Trauma-Informed Attitudes Among Educators and School Mental Health Counselors

Use of ARTIC-35 Scale

Abstract

In-service training efforts to support trauma-informed and trauma-responsive practices in school and mental health settings have proliferated in recent years. Despite these efforts, a limited number of measurement instruments with known psychometric properties exist to evaluate the impact of professional training efforts on attitudes toward trauma-informed care.  One exception is the ARTIC Scale, developed to assess attitudes related to trauma-informed care among both educators and human services professionals.  Using the ARTIC-35, this pilot, pre-post, single group study examined changes in trauma-informed care attitudes among a sample of elementary school educators and school mental health counselors who underwent a brief training designed to enhance awareness of trauma and impacts on youth.   Positive changes in trauma-informed attitudes were seen from pre to post training.  Implications of these findings for both research and practice are discussed.