Experiences of social bias, persistent poverty, and trauma can directly undermine brain development and the EF skills most needed for success. The areas of the brain affected by adverse experiences of social bias, persistent poverty, and trauma remain plastic well into adulthood and, through proper coaching, may be strengthened and improved.
Channel: Healthcare
Strong at the Broken Places: The Resiliency of Low-Income Parents
By examining factors that promote or hinder children’s healthy development, this policy report draws on recent studies to illustrate the importance of parent resiliency in the development of social-emotional competence among low-income children. The report concludes with program and policy recommendations that have proven effective in promoting the development of protective factors, reducing vulnerabilities, and cultivating resiliency among low-income parents and, consequently, their children.
Early Stress Gets under the Skin: Promising Initiatives to Help Children Facing Chronic Adversity
Many children experience adversity in the form of poverty, abuse or neglect, homelessness, or other conditions that make them vulnerable to the damaging effects of chronic stress. New research reveals that chronic stress alters their rapidly developing biological systems in ways that undermine their ability to succeed in school and in life. The good news is that we have strong evidence for programs and approaches that policy makers could use to help these children overcome the effects of stress.
Three Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families (Center on Developing Child, Harvard University)
The science of child development and the core capabilities of adults point to a set of “design principles” that policymakers and practitioners in many different sectors can use to improve outcomes for children and families. That is, to be maximally effective, policies and services should:
- Support responsive relationships for children and adults.
- Strengthen core life skills.
- Reduce sources of stress in the lives of children and families
These three principles can guide decision-makers as they choose among policy alternatives, design new approaches, and shift existing practice in ways that will best support building healthy brains and bodies.
Trauma Toolbox for Primary Care
Helping Foster and Adoptive Families Cope With Trauma: A Guide for Pediatricians
Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Role of the Pediatrician: Translating Developmental Science Into Lifelong Health
As trusted authorities in child health and development, pediatric providers must now complement the early identification of developmental concerns with a greater focus on those interventions and community investments that reduce external threats to healthy brain growth.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study
The original ACE Study – Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults
CDC Overview of Kaiser ACE Study Overview
Highlights from the CDC about Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, one largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and later-life health and well-being
How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime
Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues (ACEs) has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain.