Mental health « Advance CTE Blog

FY25 Federal Funding Deadline Looms | Legislative Update

Friday, September 20th, 2024

This week, leaders in the House struggled to make progress on time-sensitive funding legislation for the federal government while the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced it is delaying an upcoming deadline for new regulations impacting postsecondary institutions. Elsewhere new legislation related to learner mental health has been introduced in the House, while a new nominee has been announced to lead ED’s research and evaluation efforts as the agency shares new resources to support civil rights implementation.

House Continuing Resolution Vote Fails

This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pressed ahead with a vote on a six-month extension of current federal funding through the early part of 2025. The measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), has been strongly opposed by congressional Democrats and the White House. This opposition has centered on the inclusion of additional controversial provisions related to elections and a preference for a shorter-term CR lasting through December of this year. Despite this opposition, the CR was brought up for a vote on Wednesday, and lawmakers rejected the legislation with a narrow 220-202 margin. All House Democrats and 14 Republicans opposed the measure.

With the upcoming 2025 federal fiscal year (FY25) set to begin on October 1 in just a few short weeks, lawmakers must now determine a new path forward on funding for the federal government, including the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act (Perkins V), before this fast-approaching deadline. Most recently, House leaders have indicated their intent to release a new CR proposal early next week. As these efforts and more continue to get underway, Advance CTE will be working to advocate for a strengthened investment in CTE made possible by Perkins V’s state grant program.

Gainful Employment Reporting Pushed Further Back

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it was further delaying reporting deadlines for recently finalized postsecondary rules related to Gainful Employment (GE) and Financial Value Transparency (FVT). Previously reporting requirements, which had been delayed earlier this summer, were set to come into effect on October 1, 2024. Postsecondary institutions impacted by GE and FVT will now be required to begin related reporting for these rules by January 15, 2025. Read more about the announcement here.

Bipartisan CTE Student Mental Health and Wellness Act Introduced

This week, Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) and the co-chairs of the CTE Caucus, Reps. GT Thompson (R-PA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) introduced the CTE Student Mental Health and Wellness Act. Coinciding with National Suicide Prevention Month, this legislation expands the campus suicide prevention program to include area technical centers within this existing grant program. “This legislation would ensure that Area Career and Technical Centers are included as a covered institution under the Campus Suicide Prevention program–a critical recognition that learners’ mental health and wellbeing must be prioritized throughout our nation’s postsecondary system, including at institutions specializing in CTE,” said Advance CTE Executive Director Kate Kreamer. Read the press release for the legislation here.

ED Shares New Title IX Resources

In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) shared two new resources to assist schools in complying with recent changes that went into effect on August 1 regarding the implementation of Title IX—civil rights legislation intended to prevent discrimination in educational settings on the basis of one’s gender. These new resources clarify Title IX coordinators’ duties, a position requiring each recipient of funds to employ, and regulations related to nondiscrimination based on pregnancy, related conditions, parental, family, or marital status. As Advance CTE previously shared, more than half of states’ Attorneys General have sued to block these new changes, resulting in a widespread difference in whether and how these new rules are currently being implemented in certain states. These new resources can be accessed here.

Institute of Education Services Director Nominated

Late last week, President Biden announced that he was nominating Adam Gamoran to serve as the new Director of the Institute of Education Services (IES)—the U.S. Department of Education’s primary research and evaluation office. Gamoran previously served as the President of the William T. Grant Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on funding research in the social sciences. The role of IES Director must be confirmed by the Senate—a position that until recently was held by Mark Schneider who left ED earlier this spring. IES also serves critical functions in the implementation of the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA), legislation that Advance CTE has previously engaged on, this Congress.

Rob Young, Communications & Advocacy Associate

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Rob Young in Uncategorized
Tags: appropriations, Area Technical Centers, Congressional CTE Caucus, Continuing Resolution, Department of Education, FY25, Gainful Employment, Institute of Education Services, Mental health, Perkins V, Public Policy, Title IX

CTE as a Protective Factor for Mental Health Part 4: Incorporating CTE’s role as a protective factor for mental health into program and recruitment communications

Wednesday, May 29th, 2024

The protective factors for mental health inherent to Career Technical Education (CTE) may offer opportunities to improve mental health and overall outcomes for learners, solidifying CTE’s role in not only preparing learners for the workforce but also for life. In the final installment of this four-part blog series, Senior Communications Associate and Mental Health Educator Jodi Langellotti uses research on hope and messaging to provide examples and tips for CTE leaders to incorporate CTE’s role in protecting youth mental health into recruitment and program communications.

In the previous blogs in this series, we discussed how 80% of our most common health, social, and behavioral challenges are a direct result of trauma experienced in childhood which causes developmental changes in the brain that can result in challenges with focus, attention, emotional regulation, executive functioning skills, and more. Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) or protective factors such as having two caring adults outside of the home and experiencing a sense of belonging in school and the community can buffer the negative effects of childhood trauma. The activities within CTE foster hope, support, and developmental relationships and therefore serve as a protective factor for mental health. CTE is preparing learners for their future outside of the classroom, in the workforce, and for life.

Messaging the Role of CTE as a Protective Factor

Messaging CTE is marketing CTE to current and prospective learners and families to increase enrollment, retention, and completion. One of the foundational principles of marketing strategy includes creating messages that resonate with the audience by connecting to their values, and needs, and through their preferred channels of communication. It is important for state and local CTE leaders to directly engage with the intended audience (learners and families) in order to learn about their values, needs, and communication preferences. The following research and examples for messaging CTE as a protective factor for mental health should be considered a starting point and should be tailored to best meet the needs of the intended, specific audience.

Hope

Research has shown that hope and engagement have a positive relation to student achievement and their likelihood to graduate.¹ Additional research has shown that hope has a significantly positive impact on anxiety, depression, and academic performance.²

Charles R. Snyder, PhD, a former psychologist at the University of Kansas and a pioneer of hope research created a model of hope with three components: goals, agency, and pathways. Agency is the belief that one can shape their own life, “make things happen” and access the motivation to reach their goals. Pathways are the routes and plans that allow one to achieve an established goal.³

To help connect hope to CTE recruitment and program messaging, state and local leaders can lean into the components of their programs that help to nurture the three tenets of hope Snyder outlined – goals, agency, and pathways.

In the examples above emphasis is placed on “you” and “your” to help connect to the idea that it is the learner who is building their future and creating their path (agency). Words like “create”, “design”, and “build” connect to both the concept of agency and pathways (how they will get there). In all three examples the word “future” is used to help connect to the individual goals that a learner may have.

Making Connections

Messaging research conducted by Advance CTE with the support of Siemens Foundation shows that “making connections” is a strong retention message and is desired among prospective learners, especially Black, Latinx, and learners experiencing low income. Additionally, there is a correlation between poor social connections, poor mental health, and substance abuse.⁴ Addiction specialists cite a lack of social connection as a primary risk factor for substance use disorders.⁵

CTE provides numerous opportunities for learners to connect to their peers, educators, and industry professionals. Recruitment and program messaging can lean into the idea of “making connections” to help learners and families become more aware of this aspect of CTE.

In the examples above emphasis has been placed on the idea of connection through the professional networking, people, skills, and community that learners are exposed to in CTE.

Feeling Prepared for the Future

According to ECMC Group’s “?uestion the Quo” research, only 13% of Gen Z teens surveyed feel fully prepared to choose their path after high school, “The areas where they seek additional information include finances (such as guidance on future debt and managing unexpected costs), education and career pathways, health (such as guidance on mental and physical health support) and logistics (such as housing).”⁶

In both 2017 and 2020, Advance CTE found that 60% of prospective and current CTE families chose “Preparing for the real world” as the most important aspect of CTE. The 2024 CTE perception survey conducted by Advance CTE and Edge Research showed that the statement “Be prepared for the real world” still resonates as motivating and extremely motivating with learners and families. Interestingly, however, the statement “Gain skills and experience that lead to financial security and independence” ranked the highest among all respondents.

While the perceptions survey research has just two years for comparison, Advance CTE’s previous messaging research and additional research such as ?uestion the Quo clearly show that families and learners are thinking about the skills and experiences they need to be prepared for the future.

In the examples above, emphasis has been placed on the ability of CTE to help learners feel prepared for their future and achieve financial security.

Next Steps and Recommendations

This blog series has served as a starting point for the conversation around how the inherent aspects of CTE serve as a protective factor for youth mental health and as a contributor to positive learner outcomes. To move this conversation forward and into state and local systems, the following actions are recommended for state and local CTE leaders:

Engage with learners and families to determine how current recruitment and program messaging, or the provided examples, connect to their values, needs, and preferences. To learn more about engaging learner voice, check out With Learners, Not For Learners: A Toolkit for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE
Consider who in the state, district, institution, or team is already thinking about learner mental health and the connection to positive outcomes. These may be school counselors and psychologists, community leaders, and partner organizations. Engage these collaborators in conversations about CTE’s role as a protective factor for youth mental health.
Collect stories and data from learners and families on the positive impact of CTE on their hope for their future, their engagement in school, and their academic performance. Consider how to add questions to existing data tools and collection methods and partner with school counselors, community leaders, and partner organizations to collect this information.

Additional Resources

Mission impossible: Being hopeful is good for you. Weir, Kirsten, American Psychological Association, October 2013, Vol 44, No. 9: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/10/mission-impossible
The Power of Career Connected Learning in NH: https://nhlearninginitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Gallup-New-Hampshire-Learning-Initiative_-Report_2023.pdf
Engaging Learners and Families: Advance CTEs messaging research and work funded by the Siemens Foundation. https://careertech.org/what-we-do/case-making-communications/engage-families-learners/

Much of the information in this blog is from the author’s training as an Adverse Childhood Experiences Master Trainer through ACE Interface with Dr. Robert Anda and Laura Porter and through her volunteer work within the community mental health space.

Jodi Langellotti, senior communications associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Meeting the Needs of All Learners
Tags: adverse childhood experiences, Marketing CTE, Mental health, Messaging CTE, Positive Childhood Experiences

CTE as a Protective Factor for Mental Health Part 3: Establishing CTE as a protective factor for mental health through developmental relationships

Wednesday, May 15th, 2024

The protective factors for mental health inherent to Career Technical Education (CTE) may offer opportunities to improve mental health and overall outcomes for learners, solidifying CTE’s role in not only preparing learners for the workforce but also for life. In part three of this four-part blog series, Senior Communications Associate and Mental Health Educator Jodi Langellotti uses the power of developmental relationships to establish CTE as a protective factor for mental health.

In the second blog in this series, we discussed how Dr. Christina Bethell and her colleagues at Johns Hopkins University conducted research that found that the more positive childhood experiences someone has, the greater the positive impact on their mental health as an adult regardless of how much adversity they may have faced in childhood. Additionally, positive childhood experiences were shown to help buffer the negative neurodevelopmental changes caused by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and other childhood trauma. Through this study, seven positive childhood experiences, or protective factors, were identified with three of them taking place within the home and the remaining four, within the community. For the purposes of connecting CTE to protective factors, we will focus on the four identified as taking place within the community as listed below.

Had at least two non-parent adults who took genuine interest
Felt supported by friends
Felt a sense of belonging in school
Enjoyed participating in community traditions

It is possible to further categorize these four community-based protective factors in a way that brings more concreteness to the idea of belonging and participating in community traditions as follows:

Emotional Support: Feeling social/emotional support and hope
Multiple Sources of Help: Two or more people who give concrete help when needed
Reciprocity: Watching out for each other and doing favors for one another
Social Bridging: Reaching outside the social circle to connect to help

The four community factors of support will serve as the foundation for grounding CTE’s role as a protective factor for mental health. Additionally, research coming out of the Search Institute provides additional evidence of CTE’s role in supporting mental health and positive learner outcomes.

Developmental Relationships Framework – Search Institute

The Search Institute has conducted a significant amount of research on how relationships can positively impact youth development, mental health, performance, and overall well-being. The Search Institute defines developmental relationships as “Close connections through which young people discover who they are, gain abilities to shape their own lives, and learn how to interact with and contribute to the world around them.”¹

The Developmental Relationships Framework is broken down into five key elements, with 20 specific actions, that are proven to have positive impacts on youth sense of self, resiliency, mental health, and more. The five key elements are:

Express Care: Show me that I matter to you.
Challenge Growth: Push me to keep getting better.
Provide Support: Help me complete tasks and achieve goals.
Share Power: Treat me with respect and give me a say.
Expand Possibilities: Connect me with people and places to broaden my world.

In 2023 the Search Institute released Developmental Relationships: The Roots of Positive Youth Development 10 Years of Youth Voice, Practitioner Wisdom, and Research Insights which provides insights into the positive impacts of developmental relationships.²

Here are just a few highlights of the identified positive outcomes of developmental relationships:

Academic Outcomes: increased motivation to learn, level of interest in classroom content, grade point average (GPA), and critical thinking skills.
Social-Emotional Competencies: increased social responsibility, teamwork, communication, and empathy and improved listening and conversation skills and emotional regulation.
Other Thriving Indicators: improved goal setting, stretching to reach goals, self-efficacy, and identifying deep interests and increased sense of purpose.

CTE as a Protective Factor for Mental Health

The activities within CTE foster hope, support, and developmental relationships and therefore serve as a protective factor for youth mental health. To illustrate this concept clearly, the five key elements of the Developmental Relationships Framework will be connected to the four community factors of support as these are more concise while still being effective in connecting to the activities within CTE.

Developmental Relationships Framework image from Search Institute

In the image above, the five key elements of developmental relationships, represented in color within the pentagon, apply to one or more of the four community factors of support, listed in black text around the outside of the pentagon. Below are some examples of activities within CTE that fall under the four community factors of support.

Emotional Support

The multi-year connections between teachers, peers, and industry professionals provide a variety of opportunities for a learner to feel supported both in and out of the classroom.
The tangible nature of hands-on learning can make it easier for a learner to recognize their growth and progress and therefore increase their confidence and sense of self.

Multiple Sources of Help

Through CTE learners increase their potential sources of help through participation in CTSOs, mentors, and connections to industry professionals.
When learners feel they have a mentor that cares about them their sense of hope for graduating high school doubles.³

CTE especially shines in the categories of reciprocity (being able to receive and give) and social bridging (connecting with people and places to broaden their world).

Reciprocity

Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) provide opportunities for student leadership and student voice.
Learners play an active role in their CTE journey, increasing their sense of self-efficacy.
CTE provides significant opportunities for peer mentoring. Being a mentor can provide learners with a sense of purpose, self-confidence, and an increased sense of self-efficacy.
Being able to contribute financially through paid work-based learning or summer youth employment opportunities and via skills learned in CTE programs can provide learners with an increased sense of purpose and self.

Social bridging

Career exploration allows learners to see what is possible for their future and how work can connect to their passions and interests. Career exploration can also contribute to a learner’s sense of belonging as they connect their interests and skills to a class, program, or pathway.
The social networking created through CTSOs, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning broadens a learner’s world, can increase their sense of belonging, and can help them to further develop their soft skills, increasing their chances for success outside of the classroom.

The above are provided as just an example of how the activities inherent to CTE support the aspects of developmental relationships and the four community factors of support. Connecting CTE to protective factors does not necessarily require us to do anything new. Rather, it requires increased intentionality and a better understanding of and messaging about how CTE can play an integral role in preparing learners for the workforce and life.

Questions for consideration

What are the specific aspects of the CTE program within your state, institution, or district that serve as protective factors?
What are some standout programs (or individuals) that could serve as model examples of the aspects you’ve identified above?
What areas could use improvement or more intentional focus from the aspects you’ve identified above?

Looking Ahead

In the next blog in this series (part 4), we will discuss how to incorporate CTE’s role as a protective factor for mental health into program and recruitment messaging and communications and suggestions for next steps to continue the conversation with key collaborators and policymakers.

Additional Resources

Search institute virtual workshops and professional learning: https://searchinstitute.org/professional-learning
Developmental Relationships: The Roots of Positive Youth Development – 10 Years of Youth Voice, Practitioner Wisdom, and Research Insights—A Search Institute Position Paper https://d2pck61xhq74q6.cloudfront.net/The-Roots-of-Positive-Youth-Development-FNL.pdf
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Prevention for Action, Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ACEs-Prevention-Resource_508.pdf
Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences: Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental Health: https://positiveexperience.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BRFShandout2-18.pdf
The Power of Career Connected Learning in NH: https://nhlearninginitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Gallup-New-Hampshire-Learning-Initiative_-Report_2023.pdf

Jodi Langellotti, senior policy associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Meeting the Needs of All Learners
Tags: adverse childhood experiences, CTSOs, Developmental relationships, Mental health, Positive Childhood Experiences, Search Institute

CTE as a Protective Factor for Mental Health Part 2: The role of hope and positive childhood experiences to buffer the impacts of childhood trauma

Wednesday, May 8th, 2024

The protective factors for mental health inherent to Career Technical Education (CTE) may offer opportunities to improve mental health and overall outcomes for learners, solidifying CTE’s role in not only preparing learners for the workforce but also for life. In part two of this four-part blog series, Senior Communications Associate and Mental Health Educator Jodi Langellotti shares research on the power of hope and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) to buffer the negative effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

In the first blog in this series, we discussed how 80% of our most common health, social, and behavioral challenges are a direct result of trauma experienced in childhood. This trauma, also referred to as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), results in changes in the developing brain that can result in challenges with focus, attention, emotional regulation, executive functioning skills, and more. The original ACEs study from the mid-1990s showed that ACEs are common, they are interrelated, and that those who experience more trauma in childhood, as evidenced by a higher ACE score, are at greater risk for negative life outcomes including disease, mental health challenges, incarceration, substance use challenges, and more.

The Life Progression of Adversity

Recreated by the author based materials from the ACE Interface Master Trainer Training

When we look at the life progression of those who are affected by ACEs and the resulting disrupted brain development, traits, and behaviors, we see a significant increase in the risk of early substance use as a coping mechanism (see chart above). For example, nicotine found in cigarettes and vape products can reduce anxiety and help to increase focus and attention. For someone challenged with attention problems and/or anxiety, smoking or vaping may improve those conditions and be an attractive coping mechanism despite the known associated health risks. This increases the person’s risk for chronic smoking-related health problems later in life, like cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and emphysema.

Even if a young person does not turn to substance use as a coping mechanism, there is still a significant risk of negative outcomes as a result of the changes in brain development as depicted in the image below. When those with ACEs have children, the risk of transmitting that adversity to their children is significantly higher when they continue to suffer from the impact of the adversities they have faced.

The Role of Hope and Support

When people feel that they have hope and support, the negative effects of adversity are significantly reduced. In the chart below, you can see that the percentage of respondents who experienced poor mental health for half of the last 30 days drops drastically when they felt they had hope and were supported, regardless of how much adversity they have experienced. This important factor, the role of hope, is often left out of ACE conversations and presentations though it is the primary reason that a person’s individual ACE score is not predictive of their individual life outcomes. Both ACEs and the role of hope and support have a dose-response relationship, the greater the dose, whether it be toxic stress or hope and support, the greater the impact.

Recreated by the author based on materials from the ACE Interface Master Trainer Training

In 2019, new research on resilience and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) through Johns Hopkins University lead by principal researcher Dr. Christina Bethell provided statistical evidence that hope and support can buffer the negative effects of adverse childhood experiences.

The study, conducted with over 7,000 participants aged 18+, involved asking participants a variety of questions about childhood trauma, their mental health, and the health of their relationships. It is important to note, that the questions regarding trauma were not limited to the 10 ACE categories and therefore were more reflective of additional modern-day forms of trauma one may experience.

The findings of the PCEs study identified seven positive childhood experiences or protective factors that have a lifelong beneficial, ripple effect on mental health and overall life outcomes.

These PCEs can be categorized as taking place within the home and within the community, to include the school community:

Within the home

Able to talk to family about feelings
Felt family stood up for them in difficult times
Felt safe and protected by an adult in your home

Within the community

Had at least two non-parent adults who took genuine interest
Felt supported by friends
Felt a sense of belonging in school
Enjoyed participating in community traditions

The PCEs study showed that positive experiences have a similar dose-response relationship as adverse experiences – the more positive experiences, the better the chance for positive mental and relationship health despite the level of adversity or trauma experienced. The PCEs study confirmed that positive childhood experiences can buffer adverse childhood experiences thereby reducing the neurological, emotional, and behavioral impact of ACEs.

Source: Pinetree Institute

The Role of Career-connected Learning on Learner Hope and Engagement

In a report released in September 2023, Gallup reported that there is a direct connection in the number of career-connected learning (CCL) opportunities experienced and a learner’s engagement and hope. This study, performed in the spring of 2023 by Gallup and New Hampshire Learning Initiative (NHLI), surveyed more than 9,600 students in fifth through 12th grades across 28 schools in 13 districts throughout New Hampshire. Significant findings include:

Mentors matter for hope. Those who agree they have a mentor who supports their development are more likely to be hopeful about the future than their peers who do not have such a mentor (40% vs. 25%).
Engagement matters. Even students with lower academic performance who were more engaged through CCL reported having a higher sense of hope that they will graduate high school.
There is a dose-response relationship between the number of CCL opportunities and the rate of engagement and hope. The more CCL opportunities, the higher the student’s engagement and sense of hope.

Looking Ahead

In the next blog in this series, we will discuss the importance of relationships in buffering the effects and intergenerational transmission of adversity and the inherent aspects of CTE that serve as protective factors for mental health.

Future blogs in this series will discuss:

Communicating CTE as a protective factor and continuing the conversation

Resources

Adverse Childhood Experiences: Prevention for Action, Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ACEs-Prevention-Resource_508.pdf
Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences: Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental Health: https://positiveexperience.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BRFShandout2-18.pdf
Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental and Relational Health in a Statewide Sample Associations Across Adverse Childhood Experiences Levels: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2749336
Research Round-up: Impact of Career-Connected Learning on Learner Engagement and Hope https://blog.careertech.org/research-round-up-impact-of-career-connected-learning-on-learner-engagement-and-hope/
The Power of Career Connected Learning in NH: https://nhlearninginitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Gallup-New-Hampshire-Learning-Initiative_-Report_2023.pdf

Jodi Langellotti, senior policy associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Meeting the Needs of All Learners
Tags: ACEs, Mental health, New Hampshire, Positive Childhood Experiences, Protective factors

CTE as a Protective Factor for Mental Health Part 1: The role of childhood adversity on mental health and development

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024

The protective factors for mental health inherent to Career Technical Education (CTE) may offer opportunities to improve mental health and overall outcomes for learners, solidifying CTE’s role in not only preparing learners for the workforce but also for life. In part one of this four-part blog series, Senior Communications Associate and mental health educator Jodi Langellotti will outline the research around adverse childhood experiences and the resulting changes in brain growth and development that can have lifelong consequences.

The State of Youth Mental Health

In 2023 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released the Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Trends 2011-2021 Report showing the ten-year trend in responses to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) administered every two years to high school students across the nation on a variety of health and behavior topics including safety, alcohol, tobacco and drug use, and mental health and suicidality.

Over the course of the last ten years, the percentage of high school students who have experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and who have either seriously considered suicide, made a suicide plan or attempted suicide has continued to increase. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents aged 15-19,¹ and in 2020, emergency room visits for suicide attempts increased 31% for youth ages 12 to 17.²

As school districts work to reduce their student-to-counselor ratio and increase their mental health services and programming, the conversation often drifts to the new and additional things schools must do to combat the student mental health crisis. In reality, there are certain aspects of school and work-based programs and relationships, like those found within Career Technical Education (CTE), that are already having a positive impact on student mental health.³ With some increased understanding and intentionality, CTE can serve as a protective factor for students with life-long positive benefits on their mental health.

The Original ACE Study

A major risk factor for life-long mental illness and mental health challenges is trauma experienced during childhood, more commonly referred to as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).⁴ A growing body of research starting with the original ACEs study in the mid-1990s now shows that 80% of our most common health, social, and behavioral problems, including mental illness and suicidality, are caused by ACEs.⁵

The ACEs study remains the largest study of its kind, having surveyed over 17,000 participants aged 19-94 on trauma experienced in childhood, health behaviors, disease and disease risk, mental health, substance use, and other health and social problems. ACE study participants were mostly middle-class, White individuals who were generally well-educated (the majority of participants having completed high school with some having completed at least some postsecondary coursework). Participants also had access to some of the best healthcare in the country at the time through Kaiser Permanente.

Completed in partnership with the Department of Preventative Medicine in San Diego, Kaiser Permanente, and the CDC of Georgia with co-principal investigators Dr. Robert Anda and Dr. Vicent Felitti, the ACEs study looked at 10 categories of trauma experienced in childhood organized into three groups:

Abuse: physical, emotional, and sexual
Neglect: physical and emotional
Household Dysfunction: caregiver with alcohol/substance use, parental separation or divorce, domestic violence, caregiver with mental health challenges, and incarceration of a caregiver.

For part of the study, participants completed a questionnaire, indicating if they had experienced any of the 10 categories of adversity at least once during their childhood. For each positive answer, regardless of the frequency or duration they experienced the trauma associated with the category, they received one point for a total possible ACE score of 10.

The Findings of the ACE Study

The findings of the original ACE study paired with subsequent research found that:

ACEs are common and interrelated: ACEs happen across all socioeconomic levels and racial identities. Sixty-seven percent of ACE study participants reported experiencing at least one category of trauma in childhood (an ACE score of 1 or more). Eighty-seven percent of ACEs happen together e.g. a child with a caregiver who struggles with substance abuse may also experience physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse.
ACEs negatively impact neurodevelopment: the high levels of cortisol released during the stress experienced during traumatic events create a toxic environment within the brain that can hinder the development of neural pathways and neural connections. Those who have experienced ACEs are more likely to struggle with emotional regulation, executive functioning skills, impulse control, focus and attention, building healthy relationships, and more. When the brain develops in a stressful environment, it is wired to survive, not thrive which often results in behaviors that don’t fit societal expectations and can lead to negative life outcomes like school dropout, housing instability, chronic disease, or incarceration, and coping mechanisms like substance use, gambling, and more.
ACEs have a dose-response relationship: While ACEs are not predictive on an individual level, when we look at the relationship between toxic stress and life outcomes on the population as a whole, we see that the more toxic stress experienced, represented by a higher ACE score, the higher the risk for any number of health, social, and behavioral problems.

Population Attributable Risk

Since the ACE study, epidemiologists have calculated the percentage of the national population who is struggling with a variety of health and social problems directly caused by the adversities they experienced in childhood. The diagram below shows some various health and social problems represented as pie pieces in the chart. In the center, the gray oil slick shows the percentage of the population who are experiencing the given challenge as a direct result of ACEs. Epidemiologists call this the population-attributable risk.

If we look at the pie piece for recent depression in the lower right of the pie chart, we see that for 40% of the people struggling with recent depression, their depression is a direct result of the adversities they faced in their childhood.

Historical Approaches

Historically, we often try to reduce the number of people suffering with any of the health, social, and behavioral problems represented in the pie pieces in two primary ways:

Top-down mandates: laws or policies may be enacted to make it harder for people to access substances or easier to access top-tier support from counselors, therapists, or other licensed professionals.
Siloed approach: programs, services, and curriculum are created to address a challenge within its pie piece, focused on increasing professional support and programs that focus primarily on mitigating the challenge without addressing the root cause.

While these approaches may help reduce the percentage of the population challenged by a specific issue, without addressing the root cause, we are often just shifting the challenge that people are facing, moving the oil around the slide, versus reducing the percentage of the population who are suffering.

In order to reduce the size of the oil slick, i.e. the percentage of the population who are experiencing negative outcomes from the adversities they have faced in childhood, we must drill a hole in the center of the pie chart, where it says “ACEs”, by buffering the impact of ACEs and eventually reducing the intergenerational transmission of ACEs. If we address the root cause, then our historical approaches will be more impactful in reducing the percentage of the population who is suffering with any number of health, social, and behavioral issues because of ACEs.