No one can escape stress, but sometimes it takes a physical and emotional toll that translates to disease and other health effects. The good news is that there are new approaches to treating it.
Students’ lockers are seen an elementary school in Toronto on Jan. 9, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Additional research and attention is needed — particularly in Canada — to provide schools with evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally attuned approaches to school discipline.
Domestic violence is experienced unevenly across the U.S.
kieferpix/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Childhood adversity can put people at risk of perpetrating domestic violence in the future. Having a supportive social network and learning ways to regulate the stress response, however, can help.
(R to L) Police minister Bheki Cele, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Fannie Masemola, the head of police, at the 2022 South African Police Service Commemoration Day.
GCIS
Government departments, civil society groups and the private sector should pool resources and work together in a co-ordinated manner to prevent violent crime.
NBA rookies must navigate their way over a series of pitfalls.
Credit: Jon Enoch Photography Ltd via Getty Images
Children and youth in care are more likely to have experienced trauma that can affect future health. A comprehensive, trauma-informed health strategy for these children and youth is long overdue.
Recent advances in research on human development, and brain science in particular, have revealed that traumatic childhood literally changes the human body, affecting brain development.
(Shutterstock)
The impact of early childhood trauma on lifelong physical and mental health makes it urgent to invest in programs to support healthy pregnancies and stable, caring very early childhoods.
Exposure to adverse childhood experiences, as well as disparities in social determinants of health, can significantly affect development and health in children.
(Shutterstock)
Adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect and dysfunction at home may not seem like primarily medical problems, but they have significant and enduring impact on physical and mental health.
Black and Indigenous students in North America continue to experience high levels of exposure to adversity.
(Shutterstock)
A trauma-informed approach to education can help educators acknowledge and address the adversities faced by Black and Indigenous students.
One child in three is physically or sexually abused or witnesses violence between adults in their home. Other adversities including emotional neglect, living in an unsafe neighbourhood or experiencing prejudice and bullying are even more common.
(iStock)
One in three children experiences abuse or neglect. These adverse events increase lifelong risks for chronic diseases and mental health issues, creating a public health hazard hiding in plain sight.
It’s important for parents to get comfortable having conversations with their kids early on about consent and boundaries.
(Shutterstock)
As a society, we must shift our collective culture away from a silent complacency around interpersonal trauma and towards intentionally working to prevent it.
Survivors of childhood trauma often struggle to clearly describe current health issues to health-care providers, and may not get the help they need.
(Shutterstock)
The execution of Lisa Montgomery in the U.S. earlier this year demonstrates how society misunderstands the effects of mental illness and trauma on criminal behaviour.
Making time to connect one on one is crucial.
S&B Vonlanthen/Unsplash
California’s surgeon general has implemented schoolwide screenings for trauma. A social work professor explains why the rest of the nation should do the same.
Burnt shacks after a fire in a Mumbai slums. Adolescents are deeply affected by traumatic events in their lives.
The data suggest that boys experience as much disadvantage as girls.
An immigrant child from Guatemala is seen at a facility in Texas on June 21, 2018. President Donald Trump’s policy to separate children from their parents at the U.S. border is an example of an incident that could result in toxic socialization.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Childhood adversity is linked to social and mental health problems later in life. New research suggests brains that aren’t as good at recognizing rewards and responding to change may be to blame.
New research shows that when mothers who have experienced childhood trauma feel supported by the people around them – such as therapists, physicians, friends and neighbours – their risk of pregnancy complications is substantially reduced.
(Shutterstock)
Childhood trauma impacts women’s health and can be passed from parent to child. New research shows that when new mothers feel supported, the risk of pregnancy complications is reduced.
Assistant professor, School of Psychology, Scientist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Founder and Executive Director, Center for Violence Prevention Research; Affiliate Faculty with the Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire