Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
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Nigerian young people from parentally deprived backgrounds show enhanced working memory capacity
Early adverse rearing can impair cognitive functions in all domains.1 However, those who take an evolutionary–developmental stance propose that there could be adaptive benefits associated with early adverse rearing.2,3
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How do early adverse experiences increase the risk for mental health problems?
Early adverse experiences can predict a variety of mental health problems later in life, from anxiety to rule breaking behaviour and impulsivity. However, the underlying pathways by which different types of early adverse experiences, increase the risk for mental health problems, are less clear.
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Why it’s time to ACE the way we measure the bad things that happen to children
There is no magic wand to stop bad things happening, but how we measure the impact of those bad things is absolutely key to helping these children fare better.
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Homelessness and its impact on children
In the run up to Christmas, this article aims to outline previous research on the effects of homelessness and the potential solutions already outlined, as well as point towards future research and actions.
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Suicide and Self-Harm Special Edition
The National Confidential Enquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health Annual Report (2018) highlighted that suicide in the under 20’s is rising generally and that the number of suicides rises towards late teens.
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Inflammation does not mediate an adverse childhood experience– self-harm risk association
Inflammation has been proposed to be a candidate mechanism contributing to the association between exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the risk of self-harm. In the first study of its kind, researchers in the UK have now directly studied whether inflammatory processes do indeed mediate this association.
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Links between adverse childhood experiences and self-harm
What are ACEs, and how do they link with mental health and self-harm in particular?
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Continued family dysfunction accounts for the association between childhood adversity and adolescent self-harm
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is any deliberate attempt at inflicting physical self-harm in the absence of suicidal intent. NSSI peaks during adolescence, with roughly 17% of adolescents reporting having engaged in it at least once.
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PTSD edition
Trauma can occur in many forms from single exposure to a life-threatening or fear-inducing event, to sustained trauma ranging from neglect, other abuses, famine or war. All of which can present in clinical practice.
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Foster care promotes adaptive functioning in early adolescence among children who experienced severe, early deprivation.
Experiences in our early life can have long-term consequences on development. Children who have experienced severe deprivation, in the form of institutional care (orphanages), are at greater risk to experience a range of social, emotional, and cognitive difficulties. In fact, much of the research tracing long-term consequences of early adversity have come from a deficit model (i.e., “what goes wrong for those with negative experiences”).
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