Clinical trial NCT03303482: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Trauma-awareness Training for Early Childhood Educators
Official title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Trauma-awareness Training for Early Childhood Educators
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Burnout, Professional
Lead sponsor: Temple University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (UWGPSNJ)
name: Lakeside Global Institute
name: The School District of Philadelphia
First posted: 2017-10-06
Enrollment: 96
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The investigators will randomly assign consenting teachers by classroom (lead teacher and/or assistant teacher) to either the fall or spring course (intervention and waitlist control groups, respectively). The course will be taught to groups of 16 teachers, with four groups in the fall course (64 teachers) and four in the spring course (64 teachers). To determine the impacts of the training intervention on those assigned to the fall course (intervention groups), those assigned to the spring course (control groups) will serve as concurrent controls during the fall.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Background. To increase school readiness, Pre-K programs for low-income children must be responsive to the role of trauma in the lives of children, families, and staff. In 2017-2018, the School District of Philadelphia's (SDP) Office of Early Childhood Education will help Pre-K teachers support children's social-emotional and behavioral health, which is essential for early learning, by offering teachers a professional development course called Enhancing Trauma Awareness (ETA).

Purpose. To determine whether teachers who take ETA will have: 1) better work functioning; 2) more trusting work relationships; and 3) better health.

Population. Pre-K classroom teachers (n=128) working in centers under SDP auspice that serve exclusively low-income (≤300 % of poverty) children.

Intervention. A 12-week professional development course-Enhancing Trauma Awareness-will delivered by Lakeside Global Institute in 6 group sessions, with 16 teachers per group and each session lasting 2.5 hours.

Design. Consenting teachers will be randomly assigned by classroom (lead teacher and/or assistant teacher) to receive the ETA course in either fall 2017 (intervention groups) or spring 2018 (wait-list control groups).

Data collection and analysis. An external evaluation team (Temple University) will administer a confidential, online survey to all 128 teachers in fall 2017 (before fall course), winter 2017 (after fall course), and spring 2018 (after spring course). Teacher-children relationship quality will be the a priori primary outcome, and secondary outcomes will be assessed across the domains of work functioning, trust, and health.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:Preschool classroom teacher who works in a center that is under the auspice of the School District of Philadelphia and serves exclusively low-income (≤300 % of poverty) children.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in teacher-children relationship quality (specifically, levels of perceived conflict) at 3 months
timeFrame: The teacher-children relationship quality measurement will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in mindfulness (Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in emotion regulation (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in compassion satisfaction (Professional Quality of Life Scale) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in job satisfaction (adapted from Gallup Well-Being Work Index) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in attitudes about trauma-informed care (Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care Scale) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory General) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in trust in relationships with parents, supervisors, and other staff members (adapted from Trust in Schools Instruments) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in mentally and physically unhealthy days (CDC Health-Related Quality of Life Healthy Days Core Module) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
measure: Change in quality and duration of nighttime sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) at 3 months
timeFrame: The measure will be assessed for all 128 teachers through online surveys at baseline (before the fall course) and at 3 months (after the fall course).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: Temple University
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: Temple University
name: Robert Whitaker, MD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Whitaker RC, Herman AN, Dearth-Wesley T, Smith HG, Burnim SB, Myers EL, Saunders AM, Kainz K. Effect of a Trauma-Awareness Course on Teachers' Perceptions of Conflict With Preschool-Aged Children From Low-Income Urban Households: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Apr 5;2(4):e193193. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.3193.