Current projects
Resiliency Education to Advance Community Healing (REACH)
The Illinois State Board of Education is sponsoring the Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing (REACH) initiative across an initial cohort of public schools in the state of Illinois. The Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) is supporting schools in implementing REACH. Goals of this project include: to prepare educators and schools to support student mental health and resilience via trauma-informed policies and practices, to foster educators’ personal and professional resilience and self-care, to assist districts in creating school mental health structures and data-driven approaches to addressing trauma and building resilience, and to plan for sustainability by involving partners from across Illinois in a train-the-trainer model. CCR and ISBE are consulting with Dr. Santiago and her team on how to evaluate their efforts for quality improvement purposes. Dr. Santiago and her team are assisting with evaluation strategy and analysis using both quantitative and qualitative methods. We are also excited to compare this initial implementation of REACH with a statewide scale-up via qualitative focus groups.
Supporting Refugee and Immigrant Youth's Mental Health: Examining Effectiveness and Implementation of a School-Based Intervention
In partnership with Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) at Lurie Children’s Hospital, Kovler Center Child Trauma Program, and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), we piloted a school-based intervention for refugee/immigrant newcomer students in Chicago during the 2019-2020 school year. We examined the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of the Supporting Transition Resilience Of Newcomer Groups (STRONG; Hoover, 2018) program. STRONG was developed to reduce the potential for mental health disparities among newcomer refugee and immigrant students by (1) promoting positive adjustment during resettlement through a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach and (2) improving access to mental health supports through school-based programming. Using a mixed methods approach, we conducted interviews with students and parents. This pilot was affected by the unprecedented hit of the COVID-19 pandemic and most of the data was collected remotely.
We recently received funding from NIMH (R15MH128722) to continue to evaluate STRONG in Chicago Public Schools over the next 3 years. We will employ a group randomized design to evaluate the effectiveness of STRONG in promoting mental health and resilience among newcomer students. This research enhances understanding of effectiveness of an intervention optimized for refugee and immigrant youth and delivered in schools to promote access. Ultimately, building the evidence-base for and expanding implementation of the intervention has the potential to support the mental health of many more refugee and immigrant children across the United States.
The Illinois State Board of Education is sponsoring the Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing (REACH) initiative across an initial cohort of public schools in the state of Illinois. The Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) is supporting schools in implementing REACH. Goals of this project include: to prepare educators and schools to support student mental health and resilience via trauma-informed policies and practices, to foster educators’ personal and professional resilience and self-care, to assist districts in creating school mental health structures and data-driven approaches to addressing trauma and building resilience, and to plan for sustainability by involving partners from across Illinois in a train-the-trainer model. CCR and ISBE are consulting with Dr. Santiago and her team on how to evaluate their efforts for quality improvement purposes. Dr. Santiago and her team are assisting with evaluation strategy and analysis using both quantitative and qualitative methods. We are also excited to compare this initial implementation of REACH with a statewide scale-up via qualitative focus groups.
Supporting Refugee and Immigrant Youth's Mental Health: Examining Effectiveness and Implementation of a School-Based Intervention
In partnership with Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) at Lurie Children’s Hospital, Kovler Center Child Trauma Program, and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), we piloted a school-based intervention for refugee/immigrant newcomer students in Chicago during the 2019-2020 school year. We examined the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of the Supporting Transition Resilience Of Newcomer Groups (STRONG; Hoover, 2018) program. STRONG was developed to reduce the potential for mental health disparities among newcomer refugee and immigrant students by (1) promoting positive adjustment during resettlement through a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach and (2) improving access to mental health supports through school-based programming. Using a mixed methods approach, we conducted interviews with students and parents. This pilot was affected by the unprecedented hit of the COVID-19 pandemic and most of the data was collected remotely.
We recently received funding from NIMH (R15MH128722) to continue to evaluate STRONG in Chicago Public Schools over the next 3 years. We will employ a group randomized design to evaluate the effectiveness of STRONG in promoting mental health and resilience among newcomer students. This research enhances understanding of effectiveness of an intervention optimized for refugee and immigrant youth and delivered in schools to promote access. Ultimately, building the evidence-base for and expanding implementation of the intervention has the potential to support the mental health of many more refugee and immigrant children across the United States.
PAST PROJECTS
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Protective Processes among Immigrant Families:
The Impact of Family Coping on Mexican-Origin Children This project examines the role of family coping in protecting children against immigration stress by promoting positive mental health and the development of adaptive child coping among Mexican-origin families. Further, this study tests how cultural values (familism) might moderate such associations. By employing multiple methods to examine family coping in addition to a longitudinal design, this study builds upon our understanding of risk and protective factors among immigrant families, and the results may inform intervention and prevention efforts. This project includes 104 Mexican-origin immigrant families. Families are asked to provide a parent report of family coping in addition to completing a family observational task. Additional measures include immigration stress, child coping, cultural values, length of time in the U.S., and additional demographics. The results of this multi-method, longitudinal study have the potential to make a significant contribution to the literature, with real-world implications for service-providers working with immigrant families. This project will help to identify protective processes within the Mexican immigrant community and relay knowledge about how to support positive family and child adaptation to immigration stressors to educators, mental health providers, and community agencies. The project works closely with local schools serving immigrant families as well as community agencies to disseminate and apply the findings from this study. This study is funded by the Foundation for Child Development: http://fcd-us.org/our-work/new-american-children. We have concluded this project. The results and analysis of this study will continue to help identify positive avenues of family coping as well as how pre-migration and post-migration stress affects Latino families. This information will be used to help provide the needed intervention efforts and advocate for policy change. Bounce Back Replication Study
In collaboration with colleagues from Lurie Children’s Center for Childhood Resilience and the Cicero School District, we conducted a replication study for a newly developed mental health curriculum called Bounce Back (developed by Audra Langley, Ph.D.). Bounce Back is a skill-building program targeted towards elementary aged children who have been exposed to trauma. Bounce Back draws from the evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program, an intervention targeted at older children, which has been implemented successfully across the country and in the Chicago Public Schools, and in the Cicero school district. Because there are limited school-based, evidence-informed interventions for younger students exposed to trauma, Bounce Back has the potential improve access to quality care for younger students. The broad aim of this study was to meet the needs of urban and primarily low SES and ethnic minority children who may have the highest risk of trauma exposure, yet be the least likely to access care from traditional mental health resources. The developers of Bounce Back have already undertaken a single rigorous randomized control trial of the intervention, which has provided preliminary evidence for its effectiveness. This study was a replication trial which has provided additional evidence of the program’s effectiveness with a different sample, followed by a dissemination plan. You can read about this project in one of our papers, entitled "Implementing the Bounce Back trauma intervention in urban elementary schools: A real-world replication trial," published in School Psychology Quarterly. Daily Stress and Coping among Middle School Students The project utilized daily diary methodology to examine stress, coping, and mood among low-income, Latino middle school students. By studying stress, coping, and mood on a daily basis, this research allows for a more nuanced understanding of children's responses to specific stressful events and the impact that various coping strategies has on their moods. Fifty-eight middle school students were recruited from a local Catholic school. Participants reported the stressful events they experienced on each of seven consecutive days, as well as their moods and the strategies they employed to cope with these stressors. Researchers visited the school during each weekday of the study to administer and collect study materials, while participants completed measures at home over the weekend and returned these measures on the following school day. Participants also completed a set of baseline assessment measures at the beginning of the study to assess mood, hardiness, family values and demographic characteristics, family coping strategies, ethnic socialization, experiences of stress, use of coping strategies, and behavioral and emotional symptoms. The inclusion of these measures allows for a deeper understanding of the relationships between child and family functioning, values, and attributes and children's use of coping strategies and well-being (i.e., mood). We have published multiple papers from this dataset, which have examined the following constructs: relations between stress, coping and mood, relations between executive functioning, coping and mood, the effects of culture on coping and involuntary responses to stress, and the role of ethnic identity in the relation between stress and internalizing symptoms. We continue to publish from this dataset. |
Using Mixed Methods to Evaluate the Implementation of Teacher-Child Interaction Training-Universal in Public Schools
Funded by the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation, we have completed the evaluation of the implementation of Teacher-Child Interaction Training as a universal prevention program in public pre-K through second grade classrooms. We used a mixed methods approach to evaluating TCIT-U. This combination of quantitative and qualitative methods will continue to inform the additional implementation of TCIT-U. Specifically, this study examined (1) impact of TCIT-U on improving teacher (observed classroom strategies, sense of efficacy) and child outcomes (classroom behavior, self-regulation, academic functioning) in public school settings; and (2) strengths and challenges associated with TCIT-U implementation from multiple stakeholder perspectives via qualitative focus groups and interviews. We have wrapped up data collection and are in the process of disseminating and publishing findings. Bounce Back Implementation in Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools has piloted the Bounce Back program (an intervention for elementary school children exposed to trauma) in 8-10 schools. In order to understand the successes and challenges associated with providing Bounce Back, we conducted qualitative focus groups with the school- and community-based providers who implemented Bounce Back in their school. For the Bounce Back program, CPS used a model where they pair a school-based provider with a community partner provider working on the same school campus in order to have two co-facilitators of the Bounce Back groups. These providers worked together to facilitate referrals, conduct screening, and implement the intervention. Thus, they could provide important feedback on all phases of the intervention (pre-implementation, active treatment). Additionally, training and consultation was provided by the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Focus groups assessed their experiences (positive and negative) in implementing BB as well as recommendations for improving future implementation and dissemination in other school districts. Audio-recordings were transcribed and coded using ATLAS, a qualitative software program designed to facilitate thematic coding. We analyzed themes across implementation sites to better understand which challenges affect the quality of implementation. You can read more about this project in our paper published in Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. You Are Not Alone Evaluation CASA partnered with Lurie Children's Hospital Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) to evaluate the You Are Not Alone (YNA) initiative designed to increase understanding of the needs of refugee and immigrant youth and improve efforts to meet these needs. Specifically, Lurie Children's Hospital provided training (professional development training, presentations) to educators, community service providers, navigators, mental health clinicians, and attorneys who are working with refugee and immigrant youth and families. The goal was to increase recognition of signs of distress, increase responsiveness, and offer trauma-informed resources. Loyola evaluated the impact of these efforts on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior through surveys before and after trainings. For more information about this project, please visit the YNA website: childhoodresilience.org/youarenotalone/ A Family Treatment Component: Examining Effects Over Time This project evaluated family and culturally informed treatment component for low-income Latino children exposed to stress or community violence and participating in the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS). The family component was designed to engage and intervene with parents of children participating in CBITS. To ensure a relevant and engaging intervention for parents, this treatment component was developed through partnerships with community school-based clinicians and Latino parents. The study included a comparison of CBITS as usual to CBITS plus the family treatment component. We had 32 parent/student dyads that received CBITS as usual and 32 parent/student dyads that received CBITS+Family over the course of two waves of intervention and data collection. Our follow-up data collection involved a 6-9 month phone call to assess current child functioning. By collecting this additional data, were able to examine whether the family component contributed to better maintenance of symptom improvement long-term compared to CBITS as usual. We predicted that engaging and intervening with parents through the family component would contribute to better child outcomes over time. |
