Trauma-Informed High Schools: A Systematic Narrative Review of the Literature

While a growing number of high school students in the United States have experienced trauma exposure, there is a lack of review of studies that examine the efficacy of trauma-informed high schools. The current systematic review sought to identify reviews of empirical studies that explore the efficacy of trauma-informed approaches in high schools. The Evidence for Policy and Practice (EPPI-Center) framework was used to analyze the quality of literature identified including research design, participants, nature of intervention, method of analysis, and study outcomes. Analysis indicated studies about traumainformed high schools are in their infancy. Methodological designs were limited, participants were skewed towards adults, and outcomes were specific and not generalized. Indeed, half of the studies focused on teachers alone rather than student outcomes. The small number of existing reviews and studies, and the diversity of study aims and designs, made it difficult to generalize outcome results. Further empirical research is needed on the efficacy of trauma-informed high schools that include more robust research designs as well as students and other stakeholders as participants.