4: Creating Protective Factors in Children Through Positive Home-School Practices

Much attention has been given in recent years to the effects of childhood trauma on long-term mental and physical health outcomes (Narayan & Masten, 2018). Considerably less attention has been given to childhood protective factors and their role in buffering the effects of trauma. Research has highlighted how protective factors can mitigate childhood trauma’s harmful effects and improve children’s and adolescents’ social, emotional, physical, and academic outcomes (Masten & Barnes, 2018; Twum-Antwi et al., 2020). Parents, caregivers, and educators all play a critical role in supporting their children’s mental health and well-being. While individuals can make a difference independently, the impacts are amplified when schools and families come together (Brinker & Cheruvu, 2017). In this chapter, we share opportunities for families and schools to partner together to promote protective factors and increase students’ resilience. This chapter will describe four research-based protective factors and how to use a strengths-based, home-school partnership approach to support each. The four protective factors are teacher-student relationships, relationships at home, routines and rituals, and a sense of school belonging.