Critical Approaches to Contemporary Issues in Child Development

The early childhood period from newborn to 5 years is a very critical time in the life of a child. It is a time where the brain is changing quickly (Hanson et al., (2012). During this process of constant changing, many things can affect it. Stress can affect a child’s brain in a myriad of ways. Stress is an important part of the lives of everyone including babies and children. It enables all of us to deal with dangerous and terrifying events or established condition that has been researched extensively.




The two issues that I will discuss are how children develop stress and how this stress affects the child and their future. As children are presented with stressors in their lives they learn from them. Learning from them allows the child to handle life’s troubles or how to function with them. At times babies and small children are affected by external stressors (Shonkoff, & Garner, 2012). The stressors that affect them may stem from violent family conflicts, separation from family, drug exposure, or abuse. The effects of these stressors can have short term effects, but others have lasting effects.




The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard identifies three types of stress responses in children. They include the positive, tolerable, and toxic stress responses (Center for the Developing Child at Harvard, 2015). situations. As children develop physically¸ cognitively, and emotionally, stressors can assist in their practice of dealing with life’s problems (Van der Kolk, McFarlane, & Weisaeth, 2012). Stress can also cause problems that can affect a child for a lifetime. The concept of childhood stress is not a new theory. These three stress responses include positive stress, which is a short lived experience that can lead to a learning experience. The tolerable stress responses are also short lived like the death of a family member or a family disruption. This stressor can become long term if it is not handled appropriately. The final response is the toxic stress response.




 These responses are long term and more intense. It can result from the long term separation from a parent (Shonkoff et al.2012). Some toxic stressors may be on-going and may occur in the life of a child for many years. The effects of them may be permanent and cause long term damage to the brain (Schetter, & Tanner, 2012). The lifelong effects of stress on children can disrupt the basic development of the brain, cardiovascular, and immune systems. These disruptions can have a lasting consequence on the child and the future adult. Studies have shown and data indicates that many of the adult diseases were brought on by stress in early childhood (Shonkoff, & Garner, 2012). Early childhood studies such as these provide a wealth of information on toxic stress. It can also provide some helpful tools to assist teachers, parents, and other interested professionals to help reduce stressors in the lives of these impressionable children.




                                                References
Center on the Developing Child Child at Harvard, (2015), Toxic stress. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/key_concepts/toxic_stress_response/


Hanson, J. L., Chung, M. K., Avants, B. B., Rudolph, K. D., Shirtcliff, E. A., Gee, J. C., ... & Pollak, S. D. (2012). Structural variations in prefrontal cortex mediate the relationship between early childhood stress and spatial working memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 32(23), 7917-7925.


Schetter, C. D., & Tanner, L. (2012). Anxiety, depression and stress in pregnancy: implications for mothers, children, research, and practice. Current opinion in psychiatry, 25(2), 141- 148.


Shonkoff, J. P., & Garner, A. S. (2012). 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. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-e246.


Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., McGuinn, L., ... & Wood, D. L. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-e246. Van der




Kolk, B. A., McFarlane, A. C., & Weisaeth, L. (Eds.). (2012). Traumatic stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. Guilford Press.