Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Lifelong Consequences of Trauma

This article from the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that what happens in different stages of life is influenced by the events and experiences that precede it and can influence health over the life span. An expanding body of convergent knowledge generated from distinct disciplines (neuroscience, behavioral science, sociology, medicine) provides child health care professionals the opportunity to reevaluate what care is needed to maximize the effect on a child’s lifelong health. Importantly, an extensive body of research now exists demonstrating the effect of traumatic stress on brain development. Healthy brain development can be disrupted or impaired by prolonged, pathologic stress response with significant and lifelong implications for learning, behavior, health, and adult functioning. Along with the original 1998 ACE Study, there are known predictive factors that make sense to include in the list of adverse experiences, but there is room for hope.