Advances in fields of inquiry as diverse as neuroscience, molecular biology, genomics, developmental psychology, epidemiology, sociology, and economics are catalyzing an important paradigm shift in our understanding of health and disease across the lifespan. 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/. Relational health explains how SSNRs buffer adversity and promote the skills needed to be resilient in the future. Relational health refers to the capacity to develop and sustain SSNRs, which in turn prevent the extreme or prolonged activation of the bodys stress response systems. Someones got to be crazy about that kid. Become hubs for medical neighborhoods, horizontally integrating a wide array of local efforts and early childhood initiatives that not only support families with resources and programs but also advocate for the public policies that promote safe, stable, and nurturing families and communities. This revised policy statement on childhood toxic stress builds on the 2012 policy statement12 and technical report2 by: Acknowledging that a spectrum of adversity exists, from discrete, threatening events (such as abuse, bullying, or disasters) to ongoing, chronic hardships (such as poverty, racism, social isolation, or neglect). 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. The American Academy of Pediatrics has neither solicited nor accepted any commercial involvement in the development of the content of this publication. However, FCPMHs are also called to advocate for policies at the federal, state, and local levels that promote safe, stable, and nurturing communities. To promote SSNRs at the practice level, both financial incentives (eg, payment reforms) and enhanced training needs to be provided.162,163 Pediatric providers should be afforded the following: (1) sufficient time with patients and families, (2) the benefit of long-term continuity with patients and families, and (3) opportunities to learn about and practice the interpersonal and communication skills needed to form respectful, trusted, and collaborative therapeutic relationships.162 For parents to trust, pediatric providers need to listen and understand parental concerns and beliefs before making recommendations. Relational health, in the form of at least one SSNR, is a universal, biological imperative for children to fulfill their potential; to be healthy and resilient; to be successful academically, economically, and socially; and, perhaps most importantly, to be the caregivers that value and build SSNRs with subsequent generations. Move beyond singular, panacea programs toward a layering of interventions that are integrated, both vertically and horizontally, into the local public health efforts to promote safe, stable, and nurturing communities, families, and relationships. ecobiodevelopmental (EBD) framework to stimulate fresh thinking about the promotion of health and prevention of disease across the lifespan. 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. 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. Taken together, these diverse lines of inquiry suggest that it may not actually be the wide spectrum of childhood adversity that drives poor outcomes but the degree to which that adversity drives shame, guilt, anger, alienation, disenfranchisement, and degree of social isolation.181,182 If so, the proposed public health approach toward the promotion of SSNRs is needed, not only to buffer adversity and promote resilience but also to begin bridging political, religious, economic, geographic, identity-based, and ideological divides that increase social isolation, encourage tribalism, diminish empathy, and, ultimately, drive poor outcomes in the medical, educational, social service, and justice systems. Toxic stress explains how many of our societys most intractable problems (disparities in health, education, and economic stability) are rooted in our shared biology but divergent experiences and opportunities. Here's a set of five supposedly basic tenets of CRT: (1) Centrality of Race and Racism in Society: CRT asserts that racism is a central component of American life. 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). The guidelines on parent education and support in Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents (4th edition) is a starting point for all families,201 but there is a need to provide more effective, individualized, evidence-based parenting supports (eg, ROR, HealthySteps, VIP) beyond simply providing information about child development. 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. These additional interventions are supplemental to and do not replace universal primary preventions. The toxic stress and its impact on development in the Shonkoff's Ecobiodevelopmental Theorical approach. (2) Challenge to Dominant Ideology: CRT challenges the claims of neutrality, objectivity, colorblindness, and meritocracy in society. These are just a few examples of the many philosophical perspectives that exist on the analysis of society. Its components emerge in infancy and are dependent on genetic, medical, and environmental factors. ancillary support services (interpretation, telemedicine, transportation, etc) enabling youth with special health care needs to access the many layers of support that they frequently require. Many of the components of a public health approach to prevent, mitigate, and treat toxic stress responses (see examples) are also components of a public health approach to promote, identify barriers to, and repair 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. Conceptualizing and operationalizing environmental chaos Life Course Theory asserts that non-communicable diseases . asserts that complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions rather than in the child's private exploitations Children's learning of new cognitive skills is guided by an adult or a more skilled child who structures the child's learn ing experience - a process called scaffolding To create an appropriate scaffold, the parent must gain and keep the child's . Colocate counseling services (warm handoffs); facilitate, track, and follow-up on referrals offered. An integrated, biodevelopmental framework is offered to promote greater understanding of the antecedents and causal pathways that lead to disparities in health, learning, and behavior in order to inform the development of enhanced theories of change to drive innovation in policies and programs. If properly funded, FCPHMs are well placed to implement the following functions: screening for behavioral and developmental risk factors and diagnoses, including mental health conditions, developmental delays, SDoHs, and family-level risk and resilience factors; care coordination, linking families to community-based supports to address SDoHs, parenting concerns, developmental delays, and behavioral and mental health concerns; integrated behavioral health and family support services through colocated, interdisciplinary teams that include case management, behavioral health services, and positive parenting programs; preventive and dyadic mental health services that do not requiring a psychiatric diagnosis code for payment, thereby enabling the deployment of primary and secondary prevention strategies before the emergence of behavioral or medical disorders; enhanced payment for prolonged medical visits, allowing for more patient-centered communication, interdisciplinary care, and development of therapeutic alliances; and. 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. 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. Traumatic and stressful events in early childhood: can treatment help those at highest risk? Both genetic and epigenetic factors interact with. In the absence of SSNRs, many different forms of childhood adversity (from catastrophic episodes of abuse or violence to chronic conditions, such as exposure to racism, poverty, and/or neglect) can lead to toxic stress responses that result in changes at the molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels and negatively impact outcomes in health, education, and economic productivity. Empirical explorations of an evolutionary-developmental theory, Biological sensitivity to context: I. Domains, timing, and intensity of chaos were predictive of children's mental and physical health. A Comparison of the Toxic Stress and Relational Health Frameworks. For children deemed to be at high risk for toxic stress responses, potential barriers to relational health need to be identified and addressed through team-based care144 and collaborative community partnerships (eg, food banks,145,146 medical-legal partnerships147). Relational health defines the solution. An FCPMH is not a building or place; it extends beyond the walls of a clinical practice. Identify and address potential barriers to SSNRs. If nothing else, pandemic-mandated stay-at-home orders should increase our collective awareness of the distress associated with being socially isolated or vulnerable. Below we briefly discuss each of the five components, review relevant empirical support, and identify enduring questions. Relational health explains how the individual, family, and community capacities that support the development and maintenance of SSNRs also buffer adversity and build resilience across the life course. Simply put, successfully implementing a public health approach that prevents childhood toxic stress and promotes SSNRs will require FCPMHs to put relational health at the center of everything they do.172, There is an emerging evidence base that social isolation is on the rise and detrimental to both individual173 and community health.174 Social scientists have documented the fragmentation of society at the community level175 as well as its negative impact on how communities view their collective stewardship of their most treasured resource: their children.176 Psychologists have decried a crisis of connection and point to a culture that values the self over relationships and individual successes over the general welfare, leading to declining levels of empathy and trust.177 Epidemiologists have demonstrated that an individuals degree of social isolation is a powerful predictor of mortality, much like traditional clinical risk factors (eg, obesity or hypertension) or ACE scores.178 Both epidemiologists and economists have pointed to increasing levels of inequity as correlating with poorer levels of overall health for both the impoverished and the wealthy.174 Finally, physiologists have long known that social deprivation in childhood alters the programming of the bodys stress response.179,180. 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. The quoted material in this entry is from Ellis BJ. 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. Without strong therapeutic alliances with patients, caregivers, and families, few of the recommended universal primary preventions will be implemented, few of the targeted interventions will be used, and few of the indicated treatments will be sought. Feminist theory asserts that gender is a social construct and that the unequal treatment of women is a result of patriarchal norms and values. The American Academy of Pediatrics asserts that SSNRs are biological necessities for all children because they mitigate childhood toxic stress responses and proactively build resilience by fostering the adaptive skills needed to cope with future adversity in a healthy manner. FCPMHs are well-suited and even inclined to support the formation and maintenance of SSNRs as outlined in this policy statement, but they are not currently funded to do so.205. Overview of Lecture - Part 1. Early childhood experiences, both adverse and positive, appear to be biologically embedded and influence both disease and wellness across the life course.30 The ecobiodevelopmental model of disease and wellness explains how the ongoing but cumulative and reciprocal dance between ecology and biology leads to changes at the molecular (eg, methylation patterns), cellular (eg, brain connectivity patterns), and behavioral levels (eg, tobacco, alcohol, or other substance use).2,17 These changes are either adaptive or maladaptive depending on the context, and they are either benefits or risks to future health, academic success, and economic productivity.75. Executive functions are the cognitive skills needed to control behavior and attain goals. BStC, biological sensitivity to context; PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder. It was heralded as a good thing. Finally, the diverse conditions included in a broader spectrum of adversity make the formation of SSNRs more difficult. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. 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. A public health approach to promoting relational health should also be integrated horizontally (or across sectors) at the local level.81,82,148 SSNRs are easier to form when safe, stable, and nurturing families are able to live in safe, stable, and nurturing communities.124,149,150 The FCPMH is ideally placed to educate families about what a safe, stable, and nurturing family environment looks like for a child, but doing so will require changes at the provider and practice levels (see Table 2). Drs Garner and Yogman gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Dr Shonkoff to early drafts of this article. Policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics benefit from expertise and resources of liaisons and internal (AAP) and external reviewers. Understand the relational health framework, which explains how the individual, family, and community capacities that support the development and maintenance of SSNRs also buffer adversity and build resilience across the life course (see Table 1). Acronym for the family-centered pediatric medical home; in an FCPMH, the pediatrician leads an interdisciplinary team of professionals providing care that is: family-centered: the family is recognized and acknowledged as the primary caregiver and support for the child, ensuring that all medical decisions are made in true partnership with the family; accessible: care is easy for the child and family to obtain, including geographic access and insurance accommodation; continuous: the same primary care clinician cares for the child from infancy through young adulthood, providing assistance and support to transition to adult care; comprehensive: preventive, primary, and specialty care are provided to the child and family; coordinated: a care plan is created in partnership with the family and communicated with all health care clinicians and necessary community agencies and organizations; compassionate: genuine concern for the well-being of a child and family are emphasized and addressed; and. 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. This title is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package. Repair strained or compromised relationships. 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. Prepare residents to work as part of the interdisciplinary teams144 that transform FCPMHs into hubs for medical neighborhoods.161. 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. 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. Approximately 15.5 million children in the United States reside in households in which interpersonal violence is recurrent. HealthySteps is an evidence-based, interdisciplinary pediatric primary care program that promotes positive parenting and healthy development for infants and toddlers, with an emphasis on families living in low-income communities. Research done by author Mary Eberstadt shows that the sexual revolution was a Pandora's Box, unleashing many of the ills . 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. Just another site. Proposing that the public health approach also be integrated horizontally across multiple public service sectors (eg, health care, behavioral health, education, social services, justice, and faith communities) because SSNRs are promoted in safe, stable, and nurturing families that have access to safe, stable, and nurturing communities with a wide range of resources and services. The Theory of Architecture Paul-Alan Johnson 1994-04-18 The Theory of Architecture Concepts, Themes & Practices Paul-Alan Johnson Although it has long been thought that theory directs architectural practice, no one has explained precisely how the connection between theory and practice is supposed to work. Publication Date Jan 2018 Publication History Revised: Dec 2, 2016 First Submitted: May 24, 2016 Language English Author Identifier Branco, Marlia Souza Silva; Linhares, Maria Beatriz Martins Email 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. Applying a public health approach to the promotion of relational health (see Fig 1) reveals that many of the universal primary preventions for toxic stress are also effective means of promoting the development of SSNRs (eg, positive parenting styles, developmentally appropriate play with others,66,73,74,128 and shared reading129,130). For example, positive relational experiences, such as engaged, responsive caregivers,59,6265 shared childrens book reading,6668 access to quality early childhood education,6971 and opportunities for developmentally appropriate play with others66,7274 are associated with positive impacts on learning, behavior, and health. Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believed that people behave based on what they believe and not . A public health approach that cuts across traditional silos and funding streams; a horizontally integrated public health approach also includes the educational, civic, social service, and juvenile justice systems. More importantly, they are rarely integrated vertically with other programs that layer on additional efforts to address barriers to relational health (eg, SDoHs) or already strained or compromised relationships (eg, PCIT) when needed. ACE = Events/Incidents which harm social, cognitive, and emotional functioning causing a dramatic upset in the safe, nurturing environments children require to thrive. Molecular biological processes play an essential role in human development. POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose. Drawing on a framework produced by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University,192 this policy statement highlights the following 3 science-informed principles to prevent toxic stress responses and to build healthy, resilient children. 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. Any conflicts have been resolved through a process approved by the Board of Directors. 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.