How adverse childhood experiences impact the professional quality of life of residential care workers: resilience as a mediator for burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction.

Introduction: The well-being of trauma-affected children and youth in residential care settings is contingent upon the well-being of the workers who care for them, who are increasingly expected to provide care in a trauma-informed manner. The well-being of residential care workers (RCWs) may be impacted by their own histories of adversity, their capacity individually and collectively to navigate to resources that sustain their well-being (resilience), and current perceptions of their professional quality of life.

Objective: This study aimed to fill a research gap by canvassing the perspectives of RCWs to determine what and how they need to be supported in their work.

Diverse trauma profiles of youth in group care settings: A cluster analysis.

Background: Many adolescents in group care have experienced higher rates of traumatic event exposure, behavior problems, and severe trauma sequelae compared to those outside of group care. Yet, little research has examined from a person-centered perspective their diverse trauma profiles and corresponding service needs.

Objective: This exploratory study aimed to examine the heterogeneity of trauma-related profiles among youth in group care to highlight potential distinct service needs among subgroups.

A preliminary mapping of individual, relational, and social factors that impede disclosure of childhood sexual abuse.

Uncovering the pathways to disclosures of child sexual abuse (CSA) and the factors influencing the willingness of victims to talk about the abuse is paramount to the development of powerful practice and policy initiatives. Framed as a long interview method utilizing a grounded theory approach to analyze data, the objective of the current study was to provide a preliminary mapping of the barriers to CSA disclosures through an ecological systemic lens, from a sample of 67 male and female CSA adult survivors, all of whom had recently received counselling services. The current project led to the identification of three broad categories of barriers that were each comprised of several subthemes, namely: Barriers from Within (internalized victim-blaming, mechanisms to protect oneself, and immature development at time of abuse); Barriers in Relation to Others (violence and dysfunction in the family, power dynamics, awareness of the impact of telling, and fragile social network); and Barriers in Relation to the Social World (labelling, taboo of sexuality, lack of services available, and culture or time period).

Disclosure of sexual abuse among youth in residential treatment care: a multiple informant comparison.

This exploratory study describes the child sexual abuse experiences of 53 youth (ages 14-17) in child protective services residential treatment care using three informants: youth (via the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), residential treatment workers (via the Child Welfare Trauma Referral Tool), and the child protective services record. Child sexual abuse was self-reported by 38% of youth, with reporting by females almost four times higher. Child sexual abuse co-occurred with physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect in 75% of cases.