What happens when children have adverse childhood experiences?
Unfortunately many kids face adverse childhood experiences such as the loss of a parent, growing up in poverty, physical or sexual abuse or having a parent that suffers from psychiatric illness.
These experiences have been associated with mental and physical health problems which occur later in life.
But a new research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that multiple adverse childhood experiences can lead to depression and other physical health problems in kids as early as 9 to 15 years of age.
The first scans were performed when the kids reached school age and they showed that the inferior frontal gyrus was smaller in children who had more adverse experiences.
The researchers also identified a potential pathway in the brain which explains the affect such stressful experiences have on children and how it influences their mental and physical health.
This study involved 119 children between the ages of three and six when the study began. During this time the researchers tracked all the adverse experiences that occurred in the children’s lives – which included experiences such as natural disasters, a parent’s arrest, or a parent with a serious illness requiring hospitalization.
The children experience five such adverse experiences on average before they turned eight.
The researchers also performed many MRI scans on the children’s brains between the ages of six and 13.
The first scans were performed when the kids reached school age and they showed that the inferior frontal gyrus was smaller in children who had more adverse experiences.
The scientists also identified the structure as part of the pathway through which stresses of such experiences influence mental and physical health.
This structure is involved in regulating emotions and decision-making and exposure to many early adverse experiences influences the volume of this structure and results in behavioural problems and bad decision-making in later years.
The study also found that children exposed to more adverse childhood experiences were 15 percent more likely to develop depression by preteen and early teen years and 25 percent more likely to have asthma and gastrointestinal disorders.
This leads to kids having more health problems which in turn leads to more days missed at school.
The scientists also found that these children have smaller brain volumes, which is associated with lower scores in how well the child expresses emotions. Poor emotional health is associated with depression and worse emotional and social outcomes.
While previous research has linked adverse childhood experiences to poor health outcomes such as cancer, mental illness and heart disease in older adults, this study shows that health problems along with mental issues can occur in children at a young age.
Health providers and parents need to be aware of the strong influence adverse experiences can have on children and can help them in any way that they need so that they can cope and thrive in spite of their circumstances.
Source: JAMA Pediatrics
