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I learned about a new research paper entitled, "Modifiable Resilience Factors to Childhood Adversity for Clinical Pediatric Practice" co-authored by Flora Taub and Renée Boynton-Jarret (pictured above). It was just published in Pediatrics which is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics). Here's the link to the abstract. I'm not going to pretend I subscribe to Pediatrics. I don't. However, I have been interested in the work of Renée Boynton-Jarret ever since writing a...

The early years matter because, in the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second. * Neural connections are formed through the interaction of genes and a baby’s environment and experiences, especially “ serve and return ” interaction with adults, or what developmental researchers call contingent reciprocity. These are the connections that build brain architecture – the foundation upon which all later learning, behavior, and health depend. [For...

Has anyone seen this video posted on the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICAMB) blog? "According to Dr. Ruth Lanius, a parent's experience of trauma can impact their ability to form a close, intimate relationship with their child." Ruth Buczynski, PhD Those of us Parenting with ACEs sure know that's the truth. Developmental trauma impacts our ability to form close and intimate relationships with ourselves, other adults and our children. The video was...

A bill working its way through the state legislature would create a state-funded program to help new mothers in the first few months and years after the birth of their children. The CalWORKs Baby Wellness and Family Support Home Visiting Program would spend $100 million to offer home visits from nurses or social workers to new mothers who are living in poverty. Support for home visiting programs is grounded in research that has found regular postpartum home visits can improve the health of...

The psychological effects of being bullied don't necessarily stop when the bullying does. That's the conclusion of a newly released study published in the journal Pediatrics. "Students who expressed more frequent peer victimization in fifth grade were more likely to have greater symptoms of depression in seventh grade, and a greater likelihood of using alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco in 10th grade," reports University of Delaware psychologist Valerie Earnshaw , the study's lead author. She...

Over the last dozen years or so, many pediatricians, astounded by the ramifications of the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the children they care for, began integrating this science into their practices. The most common approach has been to ask parents about ACEs using a questionnaire, and to use this information to counsel parents and identify resources for the family. Different practices have been using different questionnaires: Some ask parents for their ACE scores...

I'm thrilled to announce our NEW Live Chat series!!! Starting in May, once a month, we will have a live Chat Event. It will take online in the Parenting with ACEs Group the second Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST). We'll learn from our featured guests (below) about ACE-related issues. We'll have discussions and share experiences, stories, and resources with each other. Here is who and what we have scheduled for 2017. 2017 Monthly Chat Schedule / Time is Always: @ 10 AM PST (1...

Back for the second year, Beyond Paper Tigers conference will take place June 28th and 29th in Walla Walla, WA. Featuring Dr. Ken Ginsburg from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as the keynote speaker, BPT builds on the story of one community and how they've learned that embracing trauma-informed care and implementing ACEs science truly takes a village. Operationalizing the latest in brain science, BPT will provide concrete strategies for intervention with youth, families, and communities...

National Pediatric Practice Community on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and the Center for Youth Wellness team invite you to attend the launch of the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) . NPPC is a network of medical providers focused on integrating ACEs screening and a toxic stress framework into pediatric medical practice. We will be kicking off the NPPC with an informational webinar on Monday, May 8th, 2017 at 12 noon (PST) . Webinar...

“Indicators of poor mental health among adults — for example, serious mental illness among men, major depressive episodes among men and women, and recent serious psychological distress among women — have been found to be higher in large rural counties than in small, rural, suburban and urban counties,” Lara R. Robinson, PhD, from the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC, and colleagues wrote. “Most studies examining children’s mental health in rural and...

A growing body of evidence suggests that children who cannot live with their biological parents fare better overall when living with extended family than with nonrelated foster parents. Acknowledging the benefits of kinship care arrangements, federal laws and public policies increasingly favor placing children with family members rather than in nonrelative foster care. Despite overall better outcomes, families providing kinship care endure many hardships, and the children experience many of...

When the fidgety, anxious, 5-year-old boy from northern Michigan came in about a year ago to see pediatrician Tina Hahn, it was soon apparent to her this was a case medication alone would not solve. “He was trying to hide under the chair. He looked panicked and overwhelmed. He was in that fight or flight mode,” said Hahn, who was then in practice in Alpena. The boy, she learned, had been taken away from his mother when he was 3, from a home rife with drug use, alcoholism and severe physical...