Trauma-Informed Care in Early Childhood Education Settings: A Scoping Literature Review

Children ages birth to five experience trauma at high rates. Additionally, children with disabilities are more likely to experience trauma than children without disabilities, highlighting the need for early childhood education (ECE) settings and professionals to be prepared to support children with disabilities who have experienced trauma. In this scoping literature review, we sought to explore the current knowledge base on trauma-informed care in ECE settings to identify what is known and potential gaps in the literature. We found 20 articles that discuss trauma-informed care in ECE settings and summarize the key findings from the literature, including that few studies have focused on children with disabilities. We describe several implications for research related to trauma-informed care.