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Assessing the Impact of Stress and Trauma on School Children: Why the FACT is Different

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Research has shown that childhood trauma can harm physical and mental health not only at the start of life but also into adulthood. For this reason, assessing trauma in schools is essential.  As Steven G. Feifer, author of the Feifer Assessment of Childhood Trauma (FACT), puts it: 

It’s imperative for educational institutions to have a measurement tool to identify emotionally “at risk” children so we can have a better understanding of how stress and trauma are impacting a child’s physiological, behavioral, emotional, and academic functioning. 

 

However, school staff members often have difficulties when it comes to assessing the impact of trauma and stress on a student. Getting hard data to design interventions can also be difficult, as former instruments only diagnosed if trauma occurred, and what was the source of it.   

With the new Feifer Assessment of Childhood Trauma, the impact of stress and trauma on children in a school-based setting can finally be measured.  

What makes FACT different from other childhood measures of trauma and stress?  

Previous childhood trauma questionnaires were designed to screen for a history of child abuse or neglect and to assess its long-term impact. On the other hand, the full version of the FACT is a multipurpose rating scale designed, not to determine if trauma has occurred but to convey how comfortable children are in a school-based setting, and if they are ready to learn. 

The FACT is not concerned with the source of trauma, and it does not diagnose if child abuse or neglect occurred. Instead, it measures how stress can impact the student from the academic, behavioral, physiological, and emotional points of view.  

Another difference between the FACT and the previous childhood measures of trauma is the administration. While other questionnaires may only use self-report forms, the FACT measures three perspectives, in both print and digital.  

  • Teacher form  

  • Parent form  

  • Self-report form 

Each rating form includes four broad index scores:  

  • Physiological Symptoms Index score (PSI) 

  • Behavior Symptoms Index score (BSI) 

  • Emotional Symptoms Index score (ESI) 

  • Academic Symptoms Index score (ASI) 

Also of note, the FACT can be given to students as young as 4 years old, giving professionals an earlier start on putting together interventions for young children.  

Why use the FACT to determine if trauma is affecting your student’s performance?  

As a school counselor or psychologist, or as a pediatrician, you need to know the student’s emotional comfort level in the classroom. You also may want to determine which students are at risk and need more school accommodations, as well as more specific interventions, both at home and in the school. Giving the FACT to students has important benefits in order to assess their level of comfort in the classroom briefly and accurately:  

  • Resiliency: The Resiliency cluster score is designed to determine the student’s current level of adaptive functioning and coping skill behaviors. Therefore, it represents a combination of positive attributes the student demonstrates to manage frustration and keep on striving.  

  • Interventions: The Score Report with Recommendations includes lists of recommendations presented by clinical impact scale (i.e., Physiological Impact, Emotional Impact, Academic Impact, Behavioral Impact) and provides suggestions that can be implemented.  

  • Progress monitoring: The FACT can be given every 30 days to ensure the student’s progress. It only takes 10 minutes to have the child, parent, and teacher complete a rating scale, which is a real advantage.  

  • Critical items: All three forms (parent, self-report, and teacher) contain embedded critical items to help determine any potential safety risks or harmful behaviors directed toward themselves or others. For example, if the risk of self-harm or panic attacks is detected, an immediate follow-up or intervention can be implemented.  

As the first and only comprehensive instrument measuring how stress and trauma can impact children in a school-based setting, the FACT is recommended to lead off a psychoeducational evaluation. It helps determine if the student is emotionally ready to learn, that is, if they feel safe and secure at school.  This is important because students cannot learn if they do not feel safe in the classroom.  

The FACT also measures anxiety, depression, resiliency, and inattentiveness while providing scores and descriptors that lay down the framework to interpret the rest of the student’s cognitive and academic scores. In this way, the school team will be able to plan the interventions they need efficiently.  

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