PTSD in Adolescent Girls and School-Based Counseling

A new study published on June 7 by the University of Chicago Education Lab demonstrated that school-based group therapy programs can dramatically reduce PTSD, anxiety, and depression in Black and Latina girls. The study, which analyzed the Working on Womanhood (“WOW”) program, a program established by and for Black and Latina women and girls via the non-profit organization Youth Guidance, comes at a time when girls across the country are experiencing severe trauma, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
WOW was reported to lessen PTSD symptoms by 22% among adolescent girls in Chicago neighborhood schools, as well as anxiety and sadness. These are crucial results at a time when teenage girls in the United States are experiencing record levels of depression, suicidal ideation, and violence.

Working on Womanhood’s weekly, in-school, group-based mentorship services and skill-building founded on narrative therapy, acceptance commitment therapy, and cognitive-behavioral therapy were evaluated in the study, which was published in Science Advances. The survey comprised almost 2,000 Chicago Public School girls in grades 9th-11th from ten neighborhood high schools, with 85% of them being Black or Latina.

The majority of the girls attended school on a regular basis and maintained a B average or higher. However, the study team conducted a baseline survey, which revealed shockingly high rates of trauma exposure—almost a third of the participating young women had observed someone being violently assaulted or killed, and nearly half had a close relative die violently or abruptly. Prior research has demonstrated that exposure to violence has a direct influence on student learning—one study found that Chicago pupils spend nearly one week out of every month functioning at a lower cognitive level due to their closeness to killings.

The Education Lab discovered that 38% of 9th- to 11th-grade adolescent females in Chicago’s neighborhood schools had indications of PTSD at baseline, which is double the percentage seen by service veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We are thrilled that the WOW program is generating significant results for Chicago students,” said Pedro Martinez, Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools. “CPS is dedicated to supporting our students in and outside of school—and WOW provides exactly the sort of evidence-based, trauma-informed programming they need to thrive.”

“Despite astonishing and increasing levels of trauma among school children, there is a lack of evidence about what school and city leaders can do in response,” said Dr. Monica Bhatt, Senior Research Director of the University of Chicago Education Lab, one of the lead researchers on the study. “We hope these findings inform how public and private dollars can address the specific challenges facing young women today—particularly in the wake of a global pandemic which has exacerbated trauma exposure among young people.”

The paper, “Randomized Evaluation of a School-Based, Trauma-Informed Group Intervention for Young Women in Chicago,” is the first large-scale randomized controlled trial of a school-based trauma mitigation program for young women; it is especially notable given that most research does not focus on evaluating programs specifically designed by Black and Latina women for young Black and Latina girls.

Despite the fact that the consequences of trauma are suffered disproportionately by girls, trauma-related mental health research has typically concentrated on therapies for young men, particularly in terms of gun violence prevention. Young women are more prone than young men to experience PTSD symptoms, sadness, and anxiety disorders following a stressful event. As such, the study conducted by the University of Chicago Education Lab fills a key gap in America’s understanding of childhood trauma.

“While Chicago students demonstrate extraordinary resilience, we know trauma and violence have a significant impact on student success,” said Dr. Janice Jackson, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools and current CEO of nonprofit HOPE Chicago. “That’s why the WOW program is so valuable—it’s a real solution that disrupts the cycle of trauma and improves students’ well-being in and out of the classroom.”

The study lays the groundwork for school administrators to lessen PTSD difficulties and boost the likelihood of graduating among high-school females on a budget. WOW costs about $2,300 per participant, which substantially above the typical cost-effectiveness thresholds used to evaluate medical and public health interventions. This demonstrates that the WOW program is not only beneficial but also replicable in other cities and school districts. Youth Guidance has already spread the curriculum beyond Chicago Public Schools to locations such as Dallas, St. Louis, and Boston.

“WOW was developed by and for Black and Latina women to disrupt the cycle of intergenerational trauma,” said Nacole Milbrook, Chief Program Officer at Youth Guidance. “We’ve seen dramatic improvements in the mental health and well-being of the young women we serve, and we’re proud that this rigorous study reinforces these results. We look forward to bringing the WOW program to schools and students across the country.”

A similar review of Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man (“BAM”) program, a school-based counseling program for high-school males, was undertaken in 2009 by the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab. During the program year, BAM raised members’ on-time high school graduation rates by 19% and lowered violent crime arrests in half. Based on these findings, the program was expanded countrywide and today enrolls almost 10,000 kids in eight cities. President Barack Obama attended a BAM conference in 2014, which prompted the launch of his My Brother’s Keeper project, which served to encourage similar programs across the country.

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