DUMORNAY, ET AL, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 

Black Americans in the United States are disproportionately exposed to childhood adversity compared with White Americans. Such disparities may contribute to race-related differences in brain structures involved in regulating the emotional response to stress, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex (PFC). The authors investigated neuroanatomical consequences of racial disparities in adversity.

Methods:
The sample included 7,350 White American and 1,786 Black American children (ages 9–10) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (public data release 2.0). Structural MRI data, parent and child self-reports of adversity-related measures, and U.S. Census neighborhood data were used to investigate the relationship between racial disparities in adversity exposure and race-related differences in brain structure.

Results:

Black children experienced more traumatic events, family conflict, and material hardship on average compared with White children, and their parents or caregivers had lower educational attainment, lower income, and more unemployment compared with those of White children. Black children showed lower amygdala, hippocampus, and PFC gray matter volumes compared with White children. The volumes of the PFC and amygdala, but not the hippocampus, also varied with metrics of childhood adversity, with income being the most common predictor of brain volume differences. Accounting for differences in childhood adversity attenuated the magnitude of some race-related differences in gray matter volume.

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     COMPTON, PANLILIO, HUMPHREY, SCIENCE DIRECT 

Background

Currently, some trauma-informed education practices use “ACE scores,” a number that represents the sum of endorsed items from a survey derived from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study in 1998. We caution that the survey provides limited information within education, and such scores have limited utility for designing and delivering individualized intervention to support students who have experienced adversity.

Objective

We sought to illustrate why ACEs are not well-suited for use in trauma-informed education, provide definitions for adversity-related terms from which a broader and common understanding of adversity can stem, and provide recommendations for integration of adversity-informed approaches to the educational context.

Methods

We compiled definitions of adversity-related constructs and made recommendations based on review of relevant research from the fields of psychology and education.

Results

Rather than tailoring educational practices to specific children based on the “traumatic” events they experience, we recommend educators focus their efforts on building supportive classrooms geared toward supporting students with best practices drawn from the Science of Learning, and with the understanding that early adversity can influence heterogeneous trajectories in student development and behavior. In addition, further research on educational practices, including the use of a shared language for describing and defining adversity-related experiences, are the concrete steps needed to better support a goal of adversity-informed education.

Photo Credit: Center for Disease Control & Prevention

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     DUMORNAY, ET AL, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 

Prevention is a hot topic in child welfare policy conversations, and for good reason. Preventing child maltreatment helps families thrive and reduces the frequency of tragic outcomes. The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 propelled prevention efforts forward and launched a national conversation about keeping children out of foster care except when absolutely necessary.

The State of Child Welfare

Child maltreatment rates have declined dramatically over the past 30 years. Between 1992 and 2019, physical abuse declined by 56% and sexual abuse declined by 62%. Public policy, awareness programs and decreased stigma associated with seeking help contributed to these changes.

By contrast, rates of child neglect remain high. Neglect is the most common type of child maltreatment in the U.S. Until recently, federal child welfare policies primarily responded to maltreatment without much attention to addressing risk factors. The outcome was to inadvertently punish struggling families more than help them.

More than 480,000 children were impacted by neglect in 2020, and it was a primary or contributing factor for 64% of children entering foster care the same year. By comparison, 13% of children entering foster care in 2020 were victims of physical abuse and 4% were victims of sexual abuse.

What Is Neglect?

Most experts agree child neglect occurs when the needs of a child are unmet by their primary caregivers. Inadequate clothing, food, shelter, medical and emotional care, along with unsafe environments, exposure to substance abuse and lack of supervision, are often included in definitions of neglect. Even with these definitions, pinpointing cases of neglect can be challenging. Policymakers and researchers are rethinking historical definitions, which often are intertwined with poverty. States have authority to define exactly what neglect means through legislation, and there is considerable variation.

Research shows the presence of one or more child maltreatment risk factors, such as poverty, can make a child more vulnerable to experiencing neglect. While risk factors do not cause maltreatment, buffering or reducing them is a promising prevention pathway.

Photo Credit: NCSL

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     DUMORNAY, ET AL, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 

Poor mental and physical health among older adults can sometimes trace back to childhood abuse, a Canadian study suggests. 

The study, published online July 7 in the journal Aging and Health Research, found that people who were physically abused during childhood were twice as likely to experience anxiety and depression later in life. They were also significantly more likely to develop physical illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, migraines, arthritis and heart disease.

"Sadly, our findings suggest that the traumatic experience of childhood physical abuse can influence both physical and mental health many decades later," said lead author Anna Buhrmann, a research assistant at the Institute of Life Course & Aging at the University of Toronto. "It also underlines the importance of assessing for adverse childhood experiences among patients of all ages, including older adults."

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