Adverse experiences that happen early in life may have a long-lasting effect on child development that could lead to lifelong health and mental health problems. According to the Adverse Childhood Experience study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, early stressful experiences such as abuse, neglect, hardship and family dysfunction may lead to disruptions in child social-emotional health and brain development, later engagement in risky behaviors, chronic health problems and early death.
Research has shown that interventions that target parenting to improve the child’s environment and promote factors like maternal sensitivity and secure attachment can help protect children from the effects of early adverse experiences. Intervening in this way promotes resilience and development of coping skills that lead to healthy child social-emotional development. Appropriate intervention may also at least partially reverse negative effects on child brain development that can result from experiences of adversity. In response to these recent developments in brain science and protective factor research, researchers at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare Center for Children and Families and the Schiefelbusch Institute for Lifespan Studies at Parsons have initiated a project in partnership with Early Head Start and Smart Start agencies throughout the state of Kansas.
[For more of this story go to http://news.ku.edu/2015/03/03/...s-faced-toxic-stress]
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