Decades of research indicate that individuals exposed to childhood adversity are at risk for poor physical and mental health across their life span. More recently, intergenerational transmission of ...trauma and prenatal programming frameworks suggest an even longer reach for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), with consequences that extend to subsequent generations. Beyond the individual-level consequences typically observed by empirical studies of ACEs, mothers' experiences of early adversity may also compromise the maternal-child dyadic relationship. We propose a conceptual model whereby mothers' ACEs impact maternal-infant dyadic functioning and later biobehavioral health outcomes through heightened perinatal psychosocial risk. We provide support for the proposed paths and mechanistic processes in our model with data drawn from Las Madres Nuevas, a longitudinal study of low-income Mexican-origin families who participated in a series of home and laboratory visits from the prenatal period through early childhood. Higher ACEs exposure among Las Madres Nuevas participants was associated with numerous perinatal psychosocial risk factors, which predicted poorer mother-infant dyadic functioning. Compromised dyadic functioning during infancy was associated with later maternal mental health and child behavior problems. We conclude with discussion of prevention and treatment strategies that can buffer against proposed risk pathways, including perinatal assessment of maternal ACEs and psychosocial risk, perinatal treatment of maternal distress, and mother-infant therapy in the postpartum period. It is our hope that the proposed conceptual model will serve as a guide for future research to examine the lasting consequences of childhood adversities within and across generations among high-risk populations.
Public Significance Statement
The current article integrates the intergenerational transmission of trauma and prenatal programming frameworks to understand how maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect mothers and their children. Our results suggest maternal ACEs may compromise the mother-child dyadic relationship, with negative consequences on the health of mothers and their children. We highlight perinatal prevention and intervention efforts as particularly important to reduce the long-term deleterious effects of ACEs within and across generations.
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
In this fascinating new book, Affrica Taylor encourages an exciting paradigmatic shift in the ways in which childhood and nature are conceived and pedagogically deployed, and invites readers to ...critically reassess the naturalist childhood discourses that are rife within popular culture and early years education.
Through adopting a common worlds framework, Reconfiguring the Natures of Childhood generates a number of complex and inclusive ways of seeing and representing the early years. It recasts childhood as:
messy and implicated rather than pure and innocent;
situated and differentiated rather than decontextualized and universal;
entangled within real world relations rather than protected in a separate space.
Throughout the book, the author follows an intelligent and innovative line of thought which challenges many pre-existing ideas about childhood. Drawing upon cross-disciplinary perspectives, and with international relevance, this book makes an important contribution to the field of childhood studies and early childhood education, and will be a valuable resource for scholars, postgraduate students and higher education teachers.
Introduction 1. Rousseau’s Legacy: Configuring Nature’s Child 2. Representing Nature’s Child 3. Educating Nature’s Child 4. Assembling Common Worlds Childhoods 5. Enacting Common Worlds Childhoods Conclusion: Towards Common Worlds Pedagogies
Affrica Taylor is Associate Professor of Education, University of Canberra, Australia.
Children's spaces are varied and different. To explore them participatively is therefore a challenge for researchers and planners which must be met. Socio-spatial childhood research tries to observe ...the urban spaces of the children in a differentiated manner. This helps in planning.
The operationalization of childhood trauma and adversity into checklists commonly known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, has become the most widely adopted methodology linking traumatic ...childhoods to adult outcomes. As the number of self-reported ACEs increase from 0 to 4 or more (4+), most studies find a roughly stepwise progression in risk for a wide range of negative medical and mental health outcomes. A score of 4+ ACEs, has become a de facto cutpoint, increasingly used clinically to define "high risk" status for a myriad of outcomes. Comparisons across studies using a 4+ cutpoint, however, find considerable heterogeneity in the degree of risk for the same outcomes. In addition to sample and methodological differences, certain pairs of ACEs comprising the cumulative ACE score interact synergistically to significantly increase the overall risk beyond the sum (or product) of the contributions of each ACE to the outcome. This article reviews the empirical literature on synergistic ACEs including results from a general population adult and a mixed trauma, youth sample both sufficiently powered to examine over 20 different ACE pairings for possible synergy. Synergistic pairs of ACEs vary by gender and age group. About 30-40% of the variance in outcomes is accounted for by additive synergistic interactions between certain pairs of ACEs. Across studies, sexual abuse is the most synergistically reactive ACE. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of synergistic ACE pairings for psychologists and other allied professionals across clinical practice, prevention, research, and policy.
Public Significance Statement
This study reviews evidence that an empiric interaction (synergy) between pairs of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) makes larger than expected contributions to outcomes. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect are the most synergistic ACEs. The clinical, research, and public policy implications of synergy are discussed.
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
Life history theory argues that exposure to early life adversity (ELA) accelerates development, although existing evidence for this varies. We present a meta-analysis and systematic review testing ...the hypothesis that ELA involving threat (e.g., violence exposure) will be associated with accelerated biological aging across multiple metrics, whereas exposure to deprivation (e.g., neglect, institutional rearing) and low-socioeconomic status (SES) will not. We meta-analyze 54 studies (n = 116,010) examining associations of ELA with pubertal timing and cellular aging (telomere length and DNA methylation age), systematically review 25 studies (n = 3,253) examining ELA and neural markers of accelerated development (cortical thickness and amygdala-prefrontal cortex functional connectivity) and evaluate whether associations of ELA with biological aging vary according to the nature of adversity experienced. ELA overall was associated with accelerated pubertal timing (d = −0.10) and cellular aging (d = −0.21), but these associations varied by adversity type. Moderator analysis revealed that ELA characterized by threat was associated with accelerated pubertal development (d = −0.26) and accelerated cellular aging (d = −0.43), but deprivation and SES were unrelated to accelerated development. Systematic review revealed associations between ELA and accelerated cortical thinning, with threat-related ELA consistently associated with thinning in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and deprivation and SES associated with thinning in frontoparietal, default, and visual networks. There was no consistent association of ELA with amygdala-PFC connectivity. These findings suggest specificity in the types of early environmental experiences associated with accelerated biological aging and highlight the importance of evaluating how accelerated aging contributes to health disparities and whether this process can be mitigated through early intervention.
Public Significance Statement
This meta-analysis and systematic review suggests that biological aging following early life adversity, including earlier pubertal timing, advanced cellular aging, and accelerated thinning of the cortex, may be specific to children and adolescents who experienced violent or traumatic experiences early in childhood. No such effect was found for children who experienced deprivation or poverty in the absence of violence or trauma. These findings highlight a potential role of accelerated biological aging in health disparities associated with early life trauma, and a potential target for early interventions.
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are associated with behavioral, mental, and clinical outcomes in children. Tools that are easy to incorporate into pediatric practice, effectively screen for ...adversities, and identify children at high risk for poor outcomes are lacking.
To examine the relationship between caregiver-reported child ACEs and related life events with health outcomes.
Participants (0–11 years) were recruited from the University of California San Francisco Benioff’s Children Hospital Oakland Primary Care Clinic. There were 367 participants randomized.
Participants were randomized 1:1:1 to item-level (item response), aggregate-level (total number of exposures), or no screening for ACEs (control arm) with the PEdiatric ACEs and Related Life Event Screener (PEARLS). We assessed 10 ACE categories capturing abuse, neglect, and household challenges, as well as 7 additional categories. Multivariable regression models were conducted.
Participants reported a median of 2 (IQR 1–5) adversities with 76 % (n = 279) reporting at least one adversity; participants in the aggregate-level screening arm, on average, disclosed 1 additional adversity compared to item-level screening (p = 0.01). Higher PEARLS scores were associated with poorer perceived child general health (adjusted B = −0.94, 95 %CI: −1.26, −0.62) and Global Executive Functioning (adjusted B = 1.99, 95 %CI: 1.51, 2.46), and greater odds of stomachaches (aOR 1.14; 95 %CI: 1.04–1.25) and asthma (aOR 1.08; 95 %CI 1.00, 1.17). Associations did not differ by screening arm.
In a high-risk pediatric population, ACEs and other childhood adversities remain an independent predictor of poor health. Increased efforts to screen and address early-life adversity are necessary.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Research on positive childhood experiences (PCEs) as counterparts to childhood adversity has surged in the last five years. A systematic review of the additive and interactive effects of childhood ...adversity and PCEs across adult outcomes is needed that contextualizes the long-term correlates of childhood experiences within a developmental perspective.
The current review synthesizes the empirical evidence for PCEs as resilience factors for a range of adult outcomes.
Articles published until May 2023 were systematically identified according to PRISMA Guidelines through PubMed and PsycINFO databases and references of included articles. Then, 131 records were screened, and 58 studies were included.
Higher levels of PCEs were significantly but modestly associated with lower levels of childhood adversity. Higher levels of PCEs were associated with outcomes reflecting mental health, psychosocial functioning, physical health and health behaviors, and psychosocial stress. Most studies found direct, promotive effects of PCEs for more favorable outcomes. Few studies found significant interaction effects between childhood adversity and PCEs on outcomes, suggesting that PCEs may more frequently directly promote positive outcomes rather than moderate the effects of adversity on outcomes.
Individuals' childhood adversity and PCEs are somewhat independent sets of experiences; many individuals experience both, and the presence of one does not preclude the other. PCEs predict more favorable outcomes independent of childhood adversity more often than they interact with and moderate the effects of adversity on outcomes. Although the literature base is steadily growing, more research on PCEs in diverse and international samples is needed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
BACKGROUND
To evaluate whether progress continues in identifying more effective treatments for children and adolescents with cancer, the authors examined both overall and disease‐specific childhood ...cancer mortality rates for the United States, focusing on data from 2000 to 2010.
METHODS
Age‐adjusted US mortality trends from 1975 to 2010 were estimated using joinpoint regression analysis. Analyses of annual percentage change (APC) were performed on the same diagnostic groupings for the period restricted to 2000 through 2010 for groupings ages <20 years, <15 years, and 15 to 19 years.
RESULTS
After a plateau in mortality rates during 1998 to 2002 (APC, 0.3%), the annual decline in childhood cancer mortality from 2002 to 2010 (APC, −2.4%) was similar to that observed from 1975 to 1998 (APC, −2.7%). Statistically significant declines in mortality rates from 2000 to 2010 were noted for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, non‐Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, neuroblastoma, central nervous system cancers, and gonadal cancers. From 2000 to 2010, the rates of decline in mortality for the group ages 15 to 19 years generally were equal to or greater than the rates of decline for the group ages birth to 14 years. Improvements in treatment since 1975 resulted >45,000 cancer deaths averted through 2010.
CONCLUSIONS
Cancer mortality for both children and adolescents declined from 2000 to 2010, with significant declines observed for multiple cancer types. However, greater than 1900 cancer deaths still occur each year among children and adolescents in the United States, and many survivors experience long‐term effects that limit their quality of life. Continued research directed toward identifying more effective treatments that produce fewer long‐term sequelae is critical to address these remaining challenges. Cancer 2014;120:2497–2506. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Cancer mortality for both children and adolescents declined between 2000 and 2010, with significant declines observed for multiple cancer types. However, more than 1900 cancer deaths still occur each year among children and adolescents in the United States, and many survivors experience long‐term effects that limit their quality of life, emphasizing the need for continued research to address these remaining challenges.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a monogenic disorder caused by loss of function mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 gene, which results in a broad range of disease severity, from neonatal to ...adult onset. There is currently a concerted effort to define the natural history of the disease and develop outcome measures that accurately capture its complexity. As several therapeutic strategies are currently under investigation and both the FDA and EMA have recently approved the first medical treatment for SMA, there is a critical need to identify the right association of responsive outcome measures and biomarkers for individual patient follow-up. As an approved treatment becomes available, untreated patients will soon become rare, further intensifying the need for a rapid, prospective and longitudinal study of the natural history of SMA Type 2 and 3. Here we present the baseline assessments of 81 patients aged 2 to 30 years of which 19 are non-sitter SMA Type 2, 34 are sitter SMA Type 2, 9 non-ambulant SMA Type 3 and 19 ambulant SMA Type 3. Collecting these data at nine sites in France, Germany and Belgium established the feasibility of gathering consistent data from numerous and demanding assessments in a multicenter SMA study. Most assessments discriminated between the four groups well. This included the Motor Function Measure (MFM), pulmonary function testing, strength, electroneuromyography, muscle imaging and workspace volume. Additionally, all of the assessments showed good correlation with the MFM score. As the untreated patient population decreases, having reliable and valid multi-site data will be imperative for recruitment in clinical trials. The pending two-year study results will evaluate the sensitivity of the studied outcomes and biomarkers to disease progression.
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02391831).
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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