Q: When infants and toddlers see violence in the home, are abused or experience other adverse situations early on in their young lives, how do they do later on in the school setting? Do they have difficulties as early as kindergarten?
A: I wonder about this every time I hear about an unfortunate situation in the news and it is casually mentioned that there are other young children in the home. Those young children mentioned “in the background” live in homes where they perhaps see domestic violence, experience violence themselves, see their parents struggle with substance abuse, and so on. And even when they’re infants, I worry as we all do, that the things they are living will leave a lasting impression on who they become as older children and later adults.
We know the downstream effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), on health in adulthood – more ACEs are associated with poorer health outcomes. The difficulties these children experience have also been demonstrated in adolescence and middle childhood, with lower levels of school engagement in those children having experienced adversity early on. I have a feeling, however, that the earlier we assess for impacts of ACEs, the earlier we’ll see them.
[For more of this story, written by Sara del Campo de Gonzales, go to http://www.abqjournal.com/7403...ild-development.html]
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