Trauma, Stress, and Relational Safety in Vulnerable Adolescents
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Developmental Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 4 January 2027 | Viewed by 82
Special Issue Editors
2. Pluryn Research & Development, Pluryn Industrieweg 50, 6541 TW Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Interests: specialized youth care; stress; trauma; regulation; relational approach; residential care
Interests: youth justice; relational security; relational approach; residential care; organized crime; institutional racism; lived experience; action research
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by heightened sensitivity to social environments and relational experiences. For adolescents exposed to stress and trauma—such as adverse childhood experiences, instability and unsafety, poverty, marginalization, or disruptions in caregiving—establishing and maintaining a sense of relational safety can be especially challenging, yet profoundly important. Relational safety plays a key role in emotional regulation, identity formation, resilience, and long-term well-being.
At the same time, professionals working in youth care, education, and clinical settings are continuously exposed to the impacts of others’ trauma. Secondary traumatic stress and related phenomena may affect their well-being, professional functioning, and capacity to foster relational safety. Gaining insight into how professionals can be supported in maintaining relational and trauma-informed practice is highly relevant in this field.
This Special Issue seeks to deepen our understanding of the interplay between stress, trauma, and relational safety in vulnerable adolescent populations, while also addressing the role, experiences, and needs of professionals in care contexts.
We welcome contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following:
- The impact of stress and trauma on adolescent development and relationships.
- Relational safety within families, peer groups, schools, and care systems.
- Attachment, trust, and co-regulation in adolescence.
- Professional and relational practice in trauma-exposed contexts.
- Secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, and professional well-being.
- Trauma-informed approaches in youth care, education, clinical practice and youth justice.
- Interventions and programs that promote safety, resilience, and connection.
- Organizational and systemic conditions that support sustainable professional practice.
- The role of social, cultural, and systemic factors in shaping vulnerability, relational safety, and professional practice.
- The impact of poverty, marginalization and discrimination on adolescents’ vulnerability and relational safety and interventions or programs addressing this.
- Lived experiences and participatory research with adolescents.
By bringing together diverse perspectives, this Special Issue aims to advance both scientific understanding and practical approaches related to supporting vulnerable adolescents—and the professionals who work with them—in contexts of stress and trauma.
Prof. Dr. Karin Nijhof
Dr. Fleur Souverein
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- vulnerable adolescents
- stress and trauma
- relational safety
- secondary traumatic stress
- professional practice
- resilience
- trauma-informed care
- attachment and (co)regulation
- youth care and clinical contexts
- youth justice
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