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. 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. Any conflicts have been resolved through a process approved by the Board of Directors. The second assumption is that the FCPMH will have the capacity to form working relationships with a wide array of community partners. This wide spectrum of adversity underscores the fact that ACE scores and other epidemiologically derived risk factors at the population level are not valid or reliable predictors of outcomes at the individual level.56 Toxic stress, by contrast, refers to an individuals physiologic response to these adversities, and biomarkers of this physiologic response have the potential to be more sensitive and specific measures of experienced adversity at the individual level.37 Validated biomarkers also offer transformational potential as measures of responsiveness to specific interventions.37,57 With these applications in mind, the pediatric research community is hoping to develop clinic-friendly, noninvasive biomarkers for different forms and degrees of adversity. Development of an Eco-Biodevelopmental Model of Emergent Literacy In the end, the ability of the FCPMH to leverage change within the family context is entirely dependent on the capacity of the pediatric providers to form strong therapeutic relationships with the patients, caregivers, and families. Emphasizing that the vertical integration of this public health approach or the layering of primary, secondary, and tertiary preventions and/or interventions is necessary because the heterogeneity of responses to adversity seen at the population level will need to be addressed through a menu of programs that are layered and matched to specific levels of individual need (universal preventions, plus targeted interventions for those at risk, plus indicated therapies for those with symptoms or diagnoses). intel director salary. The examples provided are illustrative and not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive. Stability of tenure: This principle says employees must have job security to be efficient. The commitment of the AAP to the well-being of all children requires that it not only address a wide spectrum of adversities but, also, that it speak against public policies, social constructs, and societal norms that perpetuate the ongoing, chronic precipitants of toxic stress responses such as poverty87,88 and racism166 and for public policies that promote relational health, inclusion, and equity.111,188191. Biobehavioral synchrony refers to the matching of nonverbal behaviors (eg, eye contact), coupling autonomic functions (eg, heart rate), coordination of hormone release (eg, oxytocin), and alignment of brainwaves between a parent and an infant. Contributors and Attributions. Efforts to repair strained or compromised relationships are likely to be more effective if other potential barriers to SSNRs are being addressed (eg, parental mental illness and basic needs) and additional efforts are being made to actively promote SSNRs (eg, the provision of developmentally appropriate play). In order to develop normally, a child requires progressively more complex joint activity with one or more adults who have an irrational emotional relationship with the child. Simply put, public policies, social constructs, and societal norms that divide, marginalize, alienate, and isolate are clear threats to the well-being of all children. Build the therapeutic alliance; surveil for possible barriers to SSNRs; champion screening at practice level; endorse referral resources. The American Academy of Pediatrics has neither solicited nor accepted any commercial involvement in the development of the content of this publication. Finally, to develop the physician leadership for the FCPMHs of the future, pediatric training programs will need to: Educate residents about the ecobiodevelopmental model and the implications for not only health care but education, juvenile justice, and public policy. The medical home recognizes the family as a constant in a child's life and emphasizes partnership between health care professionals and families (as per the National Resource Center for the Patient/Family-Centered Medical Home at the AAP). 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/. Help Me Grow National Center. Overview of Lecture - Part 1. To prevent childhood toxic stress responses and support optimal development across the life span, the promotion of relational health needs to become an integral component of pediatric care and a primary objective for pediatric research and advocacy. Secondary preventions in the toxic stress framework are focused on identifying individuals at high risk for poor outcomes resulting from toxic stress responses by using population-based risk factors (eg, ACE scores) or emerging biomarkers (eg, methylation patterns). 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. The challenge, then, is not only to prevent adversity but also (for mothers, fathers, and other engaged adults) to actively promote positive relational experiences throughout infancy and childhood. The ecobiodevelopmental theory has four key components regarding the domains, timing, intensity, and biological vulnerability related to environmental chaos. Copyright American Academy of Pediatrics. However, FCPMHs are also called to advocate for policies at the federal, state, and local levels that promote safe, stable, and nurturing communities. Provide or support positive parenting classes; participate in ROR, VIP, and other programs that support the dyad. It was heralded as a good thing. Finally, it should be noted that public health mandates to maintain social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic actually refer to physical distancing and are not intended to further isolate, alienate, or disenfranchise already vulnerable populations. ecobiodevelopmental theory asserts that: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose. Acronym for Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up; ABC is an evidence-based program of interventions to assist foster parents in nurturing children who have experienced disruptions in care. 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. According to studies, how a human brain is structured shares connections to various subsequent behaviors. Jon Lang Creating Architectural Theory .pdf - uniport.edu 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. By focusing on the safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) that buffer adversity and build resilience, pediatric care is on the cusp of a paradigm shift that could reprioritize clinical activities, rewrite research agendas, and realign our collective advocacy. They have been proven useful and effective in addressing mental health symptoms in pediatrics across the age spectrum (as per the AAP policy statement on mental health competencies in pediatric care). 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). Biological sensitivity to context is a theory with emerging evidence that children differ in their susceptibility to environmental influence in a for better and for worse manner, depending on their psychobiologic reactivity to stress. As a consequence, the very characteristics that are often thought of as childrens frailties (eg, high stress reactivity) can also be their strengths, given the right context.*,91,131,134,206. The quoted material in this entry is from Ellis BJ. Prepare residents to work as part of the interdisciplinary teams144 that transform FCPMHs into hubs for medical neighborhoods.161. 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. Rather, an integrated public health approach (see Fig 1) is needed to support all children, including those with delays in development and special health care needs.8082 The foundation for any public health approach is universal primary prevention. Trainees need to understand all of these many facets so they are prepared to be effective advocates for their patients and families. Ecological includes experiences in a child's home environment, such as reading, talking, teaching,. Conversely, early supports that allow new mothers more opportunities to bond with, breastfeed, and simply stroke their children are associated with decreases in the methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene, perhaps allowing infants to downregulate their stress responses more effectively.78,79 This finding is one of the most significant predictions of the ecobiodevelopmental model: the biological mechanisms that underlie the embedding of significant childhood adversity may also underlie the embedding of positive relational experiences in childhood. Transactional Theory 2. "The . For children who are symptomatic or meet criteria for toxic stress-related diagnoses (eg, anxiety, oppositional defiant disorder, or posttraumatic stress), indicated, evidence-based therapies are needed. 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. An FCPMH is not a building or place; it extends beyond the walls of a clinical practice. The text will thoroughly support students' understanding of human behavior theories and research and their applications to social work engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation across all levels of practice. Encourage them to become leaders in interdisciplinary early childhood systems work and vocal advocates for public policies that promote positive relational experiences in safe, stable, and nurturing families and communities. Realizing the full impact of these principles within primary care practice, however, will also require fundamental changes in medical education and payment models. Build the therapeutic alliance; promote positive parenting; encourage developmentally appropriate play. University of Utah, Department of Psychology, College of Social & Behavioral Science. Assessed key tenets from the ecobiodevelopmental model regarding environmental chaos. Toxic stress explains how a wide range of ACEs become biologically embedded and alter life-course trajectories in a negative manner. Identify and address sources of inequity, isolation, and social discord (poverty and racism). 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. 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). For many resource-poor families and older children, overall relational health is dependent not only on dyadic serve and return interactions with family members but also on trusted, SSNRs with others in the community through interactions at the medical clinic, school, recreation leagues, faith-based and civic organizations, community improvement efforts, and employment opportunities. Acronym for adverse childhood experiences. 7. 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. The ecobiodevelopmental model suggests that, to improve the likelihood of positive developmental outcomes across the life span, efforts should be made to improve the salient features of the child's environment. PDF The Life Long Effects of Early Childhood Adversity In fact, there is increasing evidence that strong social-emotional supports, such as high family resilience and connection and the provision of positive childhood relational experiences, are associated with children who are resilient and flourish despite their level of adversity.59,121 This finding has renewed interest in defining the critical elements that children, families, and communities need to thrive despite adversity.18,19,65,122124 Resilience, for example, is now understood to be the manifestation of capacities, resources, or skills that allow some children, families, and communities to respond to adversity in a healthy, adaptive manner.16,83,124 At the child level, foundational capabilities (such as social skills, emotional regulation, language, and executive functions like impulse inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, abstract thought, planning, and problem solving) are the building blocks of resilience and need to be modeled, taught, learned, practiced, reinforced, and celebrated.16 A recent literature review identified 5 modifiable resilience factors relevant to clinical pediatric care: (1) addressing maternal mental health problems; (2) encouraging responsive, nurturing parenting; (3) building positive appraisal styles and executive function skills; (4) teaching children self-care skills and routines; and (5) using trauma-focused interventions and educating families about trauma.83 The emphasis on building new skills underscores the AAPs concern that excessive screen time might limit opportunities to develop more adaptive and generalizable skills.125, Flourishing despite adversity is another construct that has been studied. Translating these principles into pediatric practice will require FCPMHs to: Understand the toxic stress framework, which explains how many of our societys most intractable problems, such as disparities in health, education, and economic stability, are rooted in our shared biology but divergent experiences and opportunities (see Table 1). 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. Unfortunately, the two theories are very much at odds regarding what is "right." Shareholder theory asserts that shareholders advance capital to a company's managers, who are supposed to spend corporate funds only in ways that have been authorized by the shareholders. The ecobiodevelopmental theory has five key components. See the Appendix for full descriptions of the abbreviations. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate. If nothing else, pandemic-mandated stay-at-home orders should increase our collective awareness of the distress associated with being socially isolated or vulnerable. The Ecobiodevelopmental Theory model of Shonkoff is associated directly to other theoretical models of human development. FCPMHs could work to reduce these barriers by partnering with their AAP chapter, local organizations (such as schools, businesses, and faith-based organizations), and other community assets (including parents, extended family, child care providers, community health workers, and patients) to form medical neighborhoods149,159,161 that work collaboratively to address the SDoHs while also advocating for policies that support safe, stable, and nurturing families and communities. For example, the AAP currently recommends screening parents for postpartum depression90 and food insecurity.87,88 Similarly, when clinical markers for an individual childs biological sensitivity to context9194 (see the Appendix for a glossary of terms, concepts, and abbreviations) are available, children of high (versus low) sensitivity may also benefit from different types of interventions.95 In concordance with a layered public health approach, these various targeted interventions will supplement but not replace the universal primary preventions. 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. Ecobiodevelopmental theory asserts that: Early experiences create the structure of the brain. 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. Similarly, symptomatic children need to be referred to evidence-based treatment programs (eg, ABC, PCIT, CPP, TF-CBT), but these are supplemental to and do not replace either targeted interventions for potential barriers to SSNRs or the aforementioned universal primary preventions. Acknowledge that a wide range of adversities, from discrete, threatening events to ongoing, chronic life conditions, share the potential to trigger toxic stress responses and inhibit the formation of SSNRs.