ecobiodevelopmental theory asserts that:

Theories that support a relationship-based framework 1. PDF The Life Long Effects of Early Childhood Adversity Acronym for Parent-Child Interaction Therapy; PCIT is an evidence-based intervention to change the patterns of parent-child interactions to improve the parent-child relationship. Similarly, advocating for a Health in All Policies approach could advance health equity and minimize family and community distress by addressing the underlying economic inequities.198200 The commitment of the AAP to decreasing family stress is manifest in many of its official statements, including poverty,87,88 racism,166 maternal depression,90 disasters,152,153 father engagement,196 home visiting,142 and the importance of play.74,197, The strengthening of core life skills (eg, executive function and self-regulation) is needed for families and communities to provide well-regulated, nurturing environments. Scientists now theorize that toxic stress causes epigenetic changes that allow trauma to be transmitted over the generations. SSNRs not only buffer adversity when it occurs but also proactively build the foundational social and emotional skills that lead to resilience in the face of future adversity. Based on the EBD model, The Ecobiodevelopmental Theory model of toxic stress experiences provoke these memories, Shonkoff is associated directly to other theoretical which are essentially created by interactions models of human development. Second, it applies this EBD framework to better understand the complex relationships among adverse childhood circum-stances, toxic stress, brain architec-ture, and poor physical and mental health well into . The ecobiodevelopmental framework asserts that the ecology becomes biologically embedded, and there is an ongoing but cumulative dance between the ecology and the biology that drives development over the life span. But something happened that few predicted. Public health approaches are vertically integrated when they are founded on universal primary preventions (eg, promoting family resilience and connection and positive childhood experiences), with tiered, targeted interventions (eg, addressing SDoHs) and indicated treatments (eg, PCIT) being layered on this foundation, depending on the specific needs of the particular child, family, or community. Toxic stress explains how a wide range of ACEs become biologically embedded and alter life-course trajectories in a negative manner. Be it child labor laws, federal grants to states to promote maternal-child health, support for paid parental leave after childbirth, required immunizations to attend school, the use of car safety seats, the adoption of children by same-sex parents, the harms of corporal punishment, the safe storage of firearms, the care of immigrant children in federal custody, the negative effect of toxins and global warming on child health, or the importance of nutrition and income support for healthy families, pediatric professionals have been a powerful force for bringing a scientifically grounded, evidence-based perspective to public debates. Several researchers have noted that many other experiences in childhood are also associated with poor outcomes later in life, and these include being raised in poverty,41 left homeless,4244 exposed to neighborhood violence,4547 subjected to racism,4850 bullied,51,52 or punished harshly.53 This finding suggests that there is a wide spectrum of adversity that runs from discrete, threatening events (such as being abused, bullied, or exposed to disasters or other forms of violence) to ongoing, chronic life conditions (such as exposure to parental mental illness, racism, poverty, neglect, family separation or a placement in foster care, and environmental toxins or air pollution; unrelenting anxiety about a global pandemic, climate change, or deportation; or social rejection because of ones sexual orientation or gender identity). Three indicators of flourishing are amenable to parental report and are rough markers of executive function: (1) the child shows interest and curiosity in learning new things, (2) the child works to finish tasks he or she starts, and (3) the child stays calm and in control when faced with a challenge.59 In analyses of data from the 20162017 National Survey of Childrens Health, the prevalence of flourishing children increased in a graded fashion with increasing levels of family resilience and connection.59 In fact, a higher percentage of children with high adversity (ACE scores 49) but high family connection and resilience were flourishing (30.5%) than children with low adversity (ACE score of 0) but low family resilience and connection (26.8%).59 Approaches to minimizing toxic stress that only look at measures of adversity (such as ACE scores or biomarkers) will miss out on opportunities to support the relational health that promotes flourishing despite adversity. This policy statement asserts that to move forward (to proactively build not only the healthy, happy children of today but also the well-regulated parents and productive citizens of the future) family-centered pediatric medical homes (FCPMHs) (see the Appendix for a detailed description) need to universally promote relational health. Routine versus catastrophic influences on the developing child, Childhood neglect: the role of the paediatrician, Inside the adverse childhood experience score: strengths, limitations, and misapplications, Interventions to improve cortisol regulation in children: a systematic review, Rethinking evidence-based practice and two-generation programs to create the future of early childhood policy, Family resilience and connection promote flourishing among US children, even amid adversity, Biological pathways for historical trauma to affect health: A conceptual model focusing on epigenetic modifications, The impact of historical trauma on health outcomes for indigenous populations in the USA and Canada: a systematic review, Promotion of positive parenting and prevention of socioemotional disparities, Primary care strategies for promoting parent-child interactions and school readiness in at-risk families: the Bellevue Project for Early Language, Literacy, and Education Success, Parenting skills and emotional availability: an RCT, Beyond the ACE score: examining relationships between timing of developmental adversity, relational health and developmental outcomes in children, Reading aloud, play, and social-emotional development, The pediatricians role in optimizing school readiness, Literacy promotion: an essential component of primary care pediatric practice, Early childhood investments substantially boost adult health, Depressive symptoms in young adults: the influences of the early home environment and early educational child care, Lifetime Effects: the High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40, Enhancing parent talk, reading, and play in primary care: sustained impacts of the video interaction project, Integrating a parenting intervention with routine primary health care: a cluster randomized trial, COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH, The power of play: a pediatric role in enhancing development in young children, Thinking developmentally: the next evolution in models of health, Maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy alters the epigenetic signature of the glucocorticoid receptor gene promoter in their offspring: a meta-analysis, Prenatal exposure to maternal depression, neonatal methylation of human glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) and infant cortisol stress responses, Effects of prenatal and postnatal depression, and maternal stroking, at the glucocorticoid receptor gene, Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior in the human infant, income inequality and the differential effect of adverse childhood experiences in US children, The changing nature of childrens health development: new challenges require major policy solutions, The health development organization: an organizational approach to achieving child health development, Modifiable resilience factors to childhood adversity for clinical pediatric practice, Healthy Steps for Young Children: sustained results at 5.5 years, Healthy steps in an integrated delivery system: child and parent outcomes at 30 months, Parents adverse childhood experiences and their childrens behavioral health problems, Mediators and adverse effects of child poverty in the United States, Poverty and child health in the United States, Cultures influence on stressors, parental socialization, and developmental processes in the mental health of children of immigrants, Incorporating recognition and management of perinatal depression into pediatric practice, Quality of early family relationships and the timing and tempo of puberty: effects depend on biological sensitivity to context, Biological sensitivity to context: the interactive effects of stress reactivity and family adversity on socioemotional behavior and school readiness, Individual differences in behavioral, physiological, and genetic sensitivities to contexts: implications for development and adaptation, The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Some Children Struggle and How All Can Thrive, SECTION ON DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS, Addressing early childhood emotional and behavioral problems, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up: an evidence-based intervention for vulnerable infants and their families, Attachment and biobehavioral catch-up: addressing the needs of infants and toddlers exposed to inadequate or problematic caregiving, Enhancing attachment organization among maltreated children: results of a randomized clinical trial, Effectiveness of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) in the treatment of young childrens behavior problems. 3, Early childhood social disadvantage is associated with poor health behaviours in adulthood, Beyond residential mobility: A broader conceptualization of instability and its impact on victimization risk among children, Adversity and children experiencing family homelessness: implications for health, The association between familial homelessness, aggression, and victimization among children, Links between childhood exposure to violent contexts and risky adolescent health behaviors, Community violence exposure in early adolescence: longitudinal associations with hippocampal and amygdala volume and resting state connectivity, Associations of neighborhood disorganization and maternal spanking with childrens aggression: a fixed-effects regression analysis, Community-level adverse experiences and emotional regulation in children and adolescents, Factors that influence trajectories of delinquency throughout adolescence, Household and community-level adverse childhood experiences and adult health outcomes in a diverse urban population, Bullying victimization in childhood predicts inflammation and obesity at mid-life: a five-decade birth cohort study. Immediate Past Chairperson, David O. Childers, Jr, MD, FAAP, Program Chairperson, John Takayama, MD, MPH, FAAP, Website Editor, Robert G. Voigt, MD, FAAP, Newsletter Editor, Rebecca A. Baum, MD, FAAP Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Lynn Davidson, MD, FAAP Council on Children with Disabilities, Yekaterina Kokidko, DO Section on Pediatric Trainees, Sherri Louise Alderman, MD, MPH, IMH-E, FAAP, Chairperson, Jill M. Sells, MD, FAAP, Immediate Past Chairperson, Alan L. Mendelsohn, MD, FAAP, Abstract Chairperson, Ami Gadhia, JD Child Care Aware of America, Michelle Lee Section on Pediatric Trainees, Dina Joy Lieser, MD, FAAP Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Lucy Recio National Association for the Education of Young Children. Ecobiodevelopmental theory asserts that: (a)early experiences create the structure of the brain (b)genes are the dominant determinant of brain development (c)early interventions cannot overcome the power of poverty in brain development (d)improving early nutrition could break the cycle of poverty 4. Although children experiencing discrete catastrophic events such as abuse are at a high risk for toxic stress responses, epidemiology suggests that the largest number of children at risk for toxic stress responses are those affected by ongoing chronic life conditions such as neglect.54,55 This finding suggests that although interventions targeting children with acute threats are needed urgently (eg, efforts preventing physical abuse, child trafficking, and gun violence), those interventions alone will almost certainly miss large segments of the population (eg, those experiencing the threats of parental mental illness, racism, poverty, social isolation) who may also develop toxic stress responses and their associated poor outcomes. Copyright American Academy of Pediatrics. The HMG Model System Model, Healthy Steps: a case study of innovation in pediatric practice, HealthySteps: transforming the promise of pediatric care, COMMITTEE ON PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Ensuring the health of children in disasters, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS ADVISORY COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH, Providing psychosocial support to children and families in the aftermath of disasters and crises, Paid parental leave and family wellbeing in the sustainable development era, Time off to care for a sick child--why family-leave policies matter, Support for restorative justice in a sample of U.S. university students, A neighborhood-based approach to population health in the pediatric medical home, Mapping neighborhood health geomarkers to clinical care decisions to promote equity in child health, From medical home to health neighborhood: transforming the medical home into a community-based health neighborhood, Implementing a trauma-informed approach in pediatric health care networks, Cross-cultural interactions and shared decision-making, The relationship between physician humility, physician-patient communication, and patient health, The impact of racism on child and adolescent health, Detecting implicit racial bias in provider communication behaviors to reduce disparities in healthcare: challenges, solutions, and future directions for provider communication training, Implicit bias: what every pediatrician should know about the effect of bias on health and future directions, Tackling implicit and explicit bias through objective structured teaching exercises for faculty, A systematic review of the impact of physician implicit racial bias on clinical decision making, Comparison of physician implicit racial bias toward adults versus children, Translating developmental science to address childhood adversity, Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community, The Crisis of Connection: Roots, Consequences, and Solutions, Social isolation: a predictor of mortality comparable to traditional clinical risk factors, Social deprivation and the HPA axis in early development, Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation, Subjective social status and inflammatory gene expression, The potential protective effect of friendship on the association between childhood adversity and psychological distress in adulthood: a retrospective, preliminary, three-wave population-based study, The Relationship between social cohesion and urban green space: an avenue for health promotion, Exposure to natural space, sense of community belonging, and adverse mental health outcomes across an urban region, Sigmund Freud Collection (Library of Congress). Empirical explorations of an evolutionary-developmental theory, Biological sensitivity to context: I. Available at: https://psych.utah.edu/research/labs/biological-sensitivity.php. Reaffirming an ecobiodevelopmental framework2 because early childhood experiences, both adverse and nurturing, are biologically embedded and influence the development of both disease and wellness later in life. This emphasis on universal primary preventions is congruent with the fact that more children are mentally and socially well and flourish as adults, regardless of their level of childhood adversity, if they also are afforded positive relational experiences and high family resilience and connection during childhood.59,121 Relational health includes more than nurturing in its traditional, spoken sense (eg, verbal warmth or responsivity); it also includes the activities that support the relationship more broadly (eg, reading aloud and a prescription to play), and research has documented that nurturing words and actions are inextricably linked.137 Although there are both practice-based (eg, Reach Out and Read [ROR],129,138,139 the Video Interaction Project [VIP],66,72 HealthySteps84,85) and community-based programs (eg, positive parenting programs,140,141 home visiting programs,142,143 quality early child care settings69,71) that promote these early positive relational experiences, they are not funded at levels that would make them universally accessible. The concept of childhood toxic stress taps into a rich literature on the biology of adversity and explains the danger in overlooking significant adversity in childhood. Acronym for safe, stable, and nurturing relationships; these allow the child to feel protected, connected, and competent. Poverty, food insecurity, housing insecurity, racism, community violence, discrimination, alienation, disenfranchisement, and social isolation are examples that impose significant hardships on families and become potential barriers to developing SSNRs. All policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics automatically expire 5 years after publication unless reaffirmed, revised, or retired at or before that time. Employ a vertically integrated public health approach to promote relational health that is founded on universal primary preventions (such as positive parenting programs, ROR, and developmentally appropriate play) but also offers more precise screening for relational health barriers (such as maternal depression, food insecurity, or exposure to racism) as well as indicated treatments to repair strained or compromised relationships (such as ABC, CPP, PCIT, and TF-CBT). Search for other works by this author on: National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships: Working Paper No. Build the therapeutic alliance; promote positive parenting; encourage developmentally appropriate play. Acronym for child-parent psychotherapy; CPP is an evidence-based, psychoanalytic approach for treating dysfunctional parent-child relationships based on the theory that the parent has unresolved conflicts with previous relationships. Asserting that adults with core life skills are essential, not only to form and maintain SSNRs with children but also to scaffold and develop the basic social and emotional skills that enable children to be resilient and flourish despite adversity. Realizing the full impact of these principles within primary care practice, however, will also require fundamental changes in medical education and payment models. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to, COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH, SECTION ON DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS, COUNCIL ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, The Ecobiodevelopmental Model of Disease and Wellness, Components of a Public Health Approach to Toxic Stress, The Emerging Science of Relational Health, Links Between Relational Health and Resilience, A Public Health Approach to Build Relational Health, Vertical Integration to Match Levels of Need With Specific Interventions, Horizontal Integration Across Sectors at the Community Level, The Centrality of Relationships in Pediatric Care, Acknowledging the Role and Toll of Social Isolation, A Renewed Commitment to Science-Based Policy Formation, Application of Science-Based Principles to Strengthen Pediatric Practice, Reduce External Sources of Stress on Families, Glossary of Terms, Concepts, and Abbreviations, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, 20202021, Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 20202021, Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Role of the Pediatrician: Translating Developmental Science Into Lifelong Health, http://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score, https://psych.utah.edu/research/labs/biological-sensitivity.php, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/wp1/, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/supportive-relationships-and-active-skill-building-strengthen-the-foundations-of-resilience/, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/wp3/, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/building-the-brains-air-traffic-control-system-how-early-experiences-shape-the-development-of-executive-function/, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/the-timing-and-quality-of-early-experiences-combine-to-shape-brain-architecture/, https://helpmegrownational.org/hmg-system-model/, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/three-early-childhood-development-principles-improve-child-family-outcomes/. Conversely, a solution-focused approach would focus on relational health15 (see the Appendix for a glossary of terms, concepts, and abbreviations) by promoting the safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) that turn off the bodys stress machinery in a timely manner.1,16,17 Even more importantly, a strengths-based, relational health framework leverages those SSNRs to proactively promote the skills needed to respond to future adversity in a healthy, adaptive manner.16,18,19 The power of relational health is that it not only buffers adversity when it occurs but also proactively promotes future resilience. This has important implications for how we nurture and fulfill the potential of all children, not just those who are relatively less sensitive to their contexts and appear to be relatively more resilient despite adversity. Preventing Childhood Toxic Stress: Partnering With Families and Refers to efforts to repair the harm that occurs with unjust behaviors, as opposed to retributive or punitive justice, which simply punishes those who have acted unjustly. That said, the toxic stress framework is a problem-focused model because it is focused on what happens biologically in the absence of mitigating social and emotional buffers. The Healthy Outcomes From Positive Experiences framework promotes relational health through positive childhood experiences, such as being in nurturing, supportive relationships; living, developing, playing, and learning in safe, stable, protective, and equitable environments; having opportunities for constructive social engagement and connectedness; and learning social and emotional competencies.126,127. The Ecobiodevelopmental Model of Health. A quasi-experimental study (GoWell) of a UK neighbourhood renewal programmes impact on health inequalities, Towards health equity: a framework for the application of proportionate universalism, University College of London Institute of Health Equity, Safe, stable, nurturing relationships break the intergenerational cycle of abuse: a prospective nationally representative cohort of children in the United Kingdom, Building the Brain's Air Traffic Control System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function: Working Paper No. Consequently, the challenge is not only to prevent a broad spectrum of adversities from occurring but also to prevent them from becoming barriers to the SSNRs that allow individuals from across the spectrum of adversity to be resilient and flourish despite the adversity.17,58,59. This revised policy statement on childhood toxic stress acknowledges a spectrum of potential adversities and reaffirms the benefits of an ecobiodevelopmental model for understanding the childhood origins of adult-manifested disease and wellness. ecobiodevelopmental framework new morbidity toxic stress social An important consideration across many harmed and exploited communities (such as American Indian or Alaska Native populations) is the accumulation of toxic stress responses across generations, sometimes referred to as historical trauma.60 Although higher levels of historical trauma are associated with poorer health outcomes, the science underlying these associations is only now being studied rigorously.61 A detailed discussion of historical trauma and the special needs of these communities is beyond the scope of this policy statement, but the layered, integrated public health approaches presented here to prevent childhood toxic stress and promote relational health might inform efforts to address historical trauma as well. 1, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress, Associations between early life stress and gene methylation in children, Differential glucocorticoid receptor exon 1(B), 1(C), and 1(H) expression and methylation in suicide completers with a history of childhood abuse, Epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain associates with childhood abuse, Annual research review: childhood maltreatment, latent vulnerability and the shift to preventative psychiatry - the contribution of functional brain imaging, Childhood trauma exposure disrupts the automatic regulation of emotional processing, Enhanced amygdala reactivity to emotional faces in adults reporting childhood emotional maltreatment, Childhood maltreatment is associated with increased neural response to ambiguous threatening facial expressions in adulthood: evidence from the late positive potential, Adverse childhood experiences, allostasis, allostatic load, and age-related disease, Child maltreatment and allostatic load: consequences for physical and mental health in children from low-income families, Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the role of the pediatrician: translating developmental science into lifelong health, Genes, environments, and time: the biology of adversity and resilience, Leveraging the biology of adversity and resilience to transform pediatric practice, Building Relationships: Framing Early Relational Health, Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strengthen the Foundations of Resilience: Working Paper No. The biological response to frequent, prolonged, or severe adversities in the absence of at least one safe stable and nurturing relationship; these biological responses might be beneficial or adaptive initially, but they often become health harming or maladaptive or toxic over time or in different contexts. An FCPMH is not a building or place; it extends beyond the walls of a clinical practice. Eco-bio-developmental model of emergent literacy helps identify risk In doing so, FCPMHs become the anchor for medical neighborhoods,149 in which community resources across multiple sectors (eg, health, education, justice, social services, faith communities, and businesses) collaborate not only to address barriers to SSNRs (such as home visiting programs,142 HealthySteps,150,151 medical-legal partnerships,147 coordinated responses to disasters,152,153 and efforts to promote access to healthy foods, safe housing, potable water, and clean air) but also to advocate for public policies (such as paid parental leave,154,155 income support,87,88 restorative justice,156158 and implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act) that intentionally and actively foster SSNRs (Table 2).149,159161, Implementing a Public Health Approach to Relational Health Will Require Changes at the Provider, Practice, and Community Levels, as Well as Horizontal Integration Across Sectors. The toxic stress and its impact on development in the Shonkoff's Ecobiodevelopmental Theorical approach. Acute threats to childhood wellness such as abuse need to be taken seriously; similar attention should be given to the social inequities and ongoing, chronic life conditions that similarly imperil a childs biological wellness and life-course trajectory. Primary preventions in the toxic stress framework are focused on how to prevent the wide array of adversities that might precipitate a toxic stress response. Change in a society created through social movements as well as through changes in the environment The recognized violation of social norms The idea that conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions Interpreting someone's past in light of present deviance Question 2 45 seconds Q. Its components emerge in infancy and are dependent on genetic, medical, and environmental factors. Toxic stress responses are known to alter multiple systems that interact in a reciprocal and dynamic manner: genomic function, brain structure and connectivity, metabolism, neuroendocrine-immune function, the inflammatory cascade, and the microbiome.13,14 Toxic stress-induced alterations also influence the adoption of maladaptive coping behaviors decades later.3740.