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Children
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Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development
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Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Global and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2023) | Viewed by 6273

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Per Kristiansson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: adverse childhood experiences; depression; consultation; women's health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child abuse and neglect, childhood poverty, and exposure to violence at home and in the community, are common during childhood and adolescence. Experiencing ACEs is one of the strongest predictors of later mental health problems across childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

ACEs have strong and long-term implications for early child development and overall children’s developmental trajectories, health, happiness, and earning potential, including a high risk of intergenerational transmission and affecting their whole lives, even as adults. Learning more about how adverse childhood experiences influence physical health, psychological health, and health behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors, would be beneficial for improving the quality of life in the pediatric population and how to treat these people, both as children and adults both in primary care and within the complete medical system. Deeper investigation into the causal mechanisms of the toxic effect of early adversity is necessary to develop appropriate interventions in health care.

Accordingly, we are organizing a Special Issue, entitled “Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development”, in the journal of Children. This Special Issue offers an opportunity to publish high-quality, interdisciplinary research that contributes to knowledge in this area. Suitable articles include theoretical articles, empirical research manuscripts, (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods), systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and evidence-based interventions focused on the health consequences of ACEs on children’s overall developmental trajectories.

Dr. Per Kristiansson
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • adverse childhood experiences
  • health
  • health promotion
  • psychosocial development
  • brain development
  • life-course
  • wellbeing
  • children
  • adult life
  • child maltreatment
  • exposure to violence
  • treatment
  • screening

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 267 KiB  
Article
The Mediating Role of Callous–Unemotional Traits in the Relationship between Parental Aggression and Behavioral Problems among Chinese Preschoolers
by Gengli Zhang and Yantong Zhu
Children 2023, 10(6), 1054; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10061054 - 13 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 821
Abstract
It is well known that aggressive parenting is associated with behavioral problems among Western children in their early childhood, but this has rarely been examined among Chinese preschoolers. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between aggressive parenting, callous–unemotional traits [...] Read more.
It is well known that aggressive parenting is associated with behavioral problems among Western children in their early childhood, but this has rarely been examined among Chinese preschoolers. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between aggressive parenting, callous–unemotional traits (CU traits), and behavioral problems among a large Chinese preschool sample. Data were collected in Wuhu city, China, from 1879 preschoolers (54% of whom were male) with a mean age of 65.66 months (standard deviation = 9.41). Parents provided information about the frequency of aggressive parenting, children’s behaviors, and demographic characteristics via an online questionnaire. Mediation models were applied to analyze the associations between aggressive parenting, CU traits, and behavioral problems. Preschoolers’ age, gender, and family socioeconomic status were considered as covariates. The findings of our study revealed that higher frequencies of parental psychological and physical aggression were associated with high levels of CU traits, which were related to increased levels of preschoolers’ behavioral problems. This study extends previous studies by revealing a positive relationship between aggressive parenting and behavioral problems among Chinese preschoolers via CU traits and highlights the risks of aggressive parenting. Interventions for improving parenting strategies and lessening callous–unemotional traits should be developed to help reduce behavioral problems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development)
10 pages, 1020 KiB  
Article
Methylation Dynamics on 5′-UTR of DAT1 Gene as a Bio-Marker to Recognize Therapy Success in ADHD Children
by Valentina Carpentieri, Gabriella Lambacher, Miriam Troianiello, Mariangela Pucci, Diana Di Pietro, Giovanni Laviola, Claudio D’Addario, Esterina Pascale and Walter Adriani
Children 2023, 10(3), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030584 - 18 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1201
Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, afflicts 5% of children worldwide. Each ADHD patient presents with individual cognitive and motivational peculiarities. Furthermore, choice of appropriate therapy is still up to clinicians, who express somewhat qualitative advice on [...] Read more.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, afflicts 5% of children worldwide. Each ADHD patient presents with individual cognitive and motivational peculiarities. Furthermore, choice of appropriate therapy is still up to clinicians, who express somewhat qualitative advice on whether a child is being successfully cured or not: it would be more appropriate to use an objective biomarker to indicate whether a treatment led to benefits or not. The aim of our work is to search for such clinical biomarkers. We recruited 60 ADHD kids; psychopathological scales were administered at recruitment and after six weeks of therapy. Out of such a cohort of ADHD children, we rigorously extracted two specific subgroups; regardless of the initial severity of their disease, we compared those who obtained the largest improvement (ΔCGAS > 5) vs. those who were still characterized by a severe condition (CGAS < 40). After such a therapy, methylation levels of DNA extracted from buccal swabs were measured in the 5′-UTR of the DAT1 gene. CpGs 3 and 5 displayed, in relation to the other CpGs, a particular symmetrical pattern; for “improving” ADHD children, they were methylated together with CpG 2 and CpG 6; instead, for “severe” ADHD children, they accompanied a methylated CpG 1. These specific patterns of methylation could be used as objective molecular biomarkers of successful cures, establishing if a certain therapy is akin to a given patient (personalized medicine). Present data support the use of post-therapy molecular data obtained with non-invasive techniques. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development)
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14 pages, 1661 KiB  
Article
The Role of the Mind-Body Connection in Children with Food Reactions and Identified Adversity: Implications for Integrating Stress Management and Resilience Strategies in Clinical Practice
by Olivia Lee, Maria Mascarenhas, Robin Miccio, Terri Brown-Whitehorn, Amy Dean, Jessi Erlichman and Robin Ortiz
Children 2023, 10(3), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030563 - 16 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1646
Abstract
Child adversity is often associated with poor quality of life in pediatric gastrointestinal disorders, including non-allergic food reactions (food intolerances), which may be improved using mind-body interventions. We conducted an observational study to (1) describe child adversity (stressors) and resilience factors in children [...] Read more.
Child adversity is often associated with poor quality of life in pediatric gastrointestinal disorders, including non-allergic food reactions (food intolerances), which may be improved using mind-body interventions. We conducted an observational study to (1) describe child adversity (stressors) and resilience factors in children with food intolerances, and (2) explore the association between stressors and self-reported use of integrative modalities. A retrospective chart review of children ≥4-years-old presenting to a pediatric food intolerances clinic from 2017 to 2020 was performed (n = 130). Use of integrative medicine at intake, demographic, illness, and social history data were collected. Qualitative analysis identified exposure to stressors and resilience strategies. Correlation was assessed using a chi-square test. Management of the medical condition was the most common stressor, indicating impact on quality of life. Resilience strategies included themes of self-coping and social support. Individuals with one or more stressors were more likely to be using an integrative modality (most commonly, mind-body interventions) prior to their visit (X2 = 8.1, p = 0.004). Our hypothesis-generating study suggests that screening for child adversity and integrative medicine use may be used to better address quality of life and personalized approaches to treat pediatric food intolerances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development)
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13 pages, 354 KiB  
Article
Social Information Processing Theory Indicators of Child Abuse Risk: Cultural Comparison of Mothers from Peru and the United States
by Christina M. Rodriguez, Patricia Bárrig Jó, Enrique Gracia and Marisol Lila
Children 2023, 10(3), 545; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030545 - 13 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1733
Abstract
Much of the research conducted on social information processing (SIP) factors predictive of child abuse risk has been conducted in North America, raising questions about how applicable such models may be in other cultures. Based on the premise that the parents’ child abuse [...] Read more.
Much of the research conducted on social information processing (SIP) factors predictive of child abuse risk has been conducted in North America, raising questions about how applicable such models may be in other cultures. Based on the premise that the parents’ child abuse risk is affected by both risk and protective factors, the current study considered how specific SIP socio-cognitive risk factors (acceptability of parent–child aggression as a discipline approach; empathic ability; frustration tolerance) as well as social support satisfaction as a resource related to child abuse risk by comparing a sample of mothers in Peru (n = 102) with a sample of mothers in the U.S. (n = 180). Using multi-group regression analyses, the current investigation identified that lower empathy was more salient for the abuse risk of U.S. mothers relative to the salience of lower frustration tolerance for Peruvian mothers. Although effects were observed for the approval of parent-aggression for the child abuse risk of both samples, such approval did not appear to be related to the Peruvian mothers’ actual use of such tactics. When considered alongside the socio-cognitive risk factors, greater social support satisfaction did not significantly relate to child abuse risk for either sample. The findings are discussed in reference to future cross-cultural work that may need to better examine how factors may or may not be universal to craft more culturally informed child abuse prevention programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Early Childhood Adversity and Child Development)
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