Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Online Training Module 1 Lesson 1

Summary

The video script discusses the critical nature of early childhood for brain development, where experiences shape neural pathways. It emphasizes the importance of nurturing environments for balanced brain growth and warns of the detrimental effects of toxic stress from adverse experiences like abuse or neglect. The script also highlights the brain's resilience and the potential for healing through therapy and support, advocating for preventive measures and services to mitigate the long-term impacts of early adversity on health and behavior.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Brain development is a lifelong process, but early childhood is the most critical period for its growth and adaptation.
• 🛤️ Experiences in childhood, both positive and negative, shape neural pathways that form the foundation for cognitive and behavioral functioning.
• 🏭 The brain's development can be likened to constructing a town's infrastructure, where repeated experiences strengthen and pave the 'roads' or neural connections.
• 🌱 A safe, stable, and nurturing environment is essential for healthy brain development, allowing children to learn and explore.
• 🚨 Excessive or prolonged exposure to adversity can lead to toxic stress, which can disrupt normal brain development and lead to lifelong issues.
• 🔌 Positive experiences help wire the brain for healthy development, while adverse ones can lead to a brain that anticipates a lack of support and safety.
• 🤯 Different types of stress impact individuals differently; toxic stress, in particular, can have long-term negative effects on brain and overall health.
• 🔄 The brain's response to stress involves a hormonal reaction designed to protect, but chronic activation can lead to developmental imbalances.
• 🚫 Children who experience toxic stress are at higher risk for a range of problems in adolescence and adulthood, including behavioral, emotional, and physical health issues.
• 🌟 The brain has the capacity to heal and change, and effective interventions can help mitigate the effects of early adversity and trauma.
• 🛡️ Preventing and addressing early adversity is crucial from a public health perspective, as it can significantly impact the health and well-being of individuals and populations.

Q & A

What is the most critical period for brain development, according to the script?

Childhood, particularly early childhood, is identified as the most sensitive and critical period for brain development.

How do experiences influence brain development?

Experiences, both positive and negative, stimulate the brain and form neural pathways, shaping cognitive and behavioral functioning throughout life.

What analogy is used to explain brain development in the script?

Brain development is compared to laying out roadwork in a town. Experiences act as roads, and the more frequently an experience occurs, the stronger and more reinforced the 'road' or neural pathway becomes.

What role do safe, stable, and nurturing relationships play in brain development?

These relationships and environments provide the foundation for healthy brain development by giving children ample opportunities to learn and explore, which stimulates balanced growth.

What is toxic stress, and how does it impact brain development?

Toxic stress refers to prolonged exposure to adversities like abuse or neglect without adequate support. This disrupts brain development by keeping the stress response system overactivated, leading to long-term negative effects.

How does cortisol affect the brain in cases of prolonged stress?

Cortisol, a hormone released during stress, has negative effects on brain and neurological development when produced constantly due to toxic stress.

What are some long-term consequences of early childhood adversity?

Children who experience early adversity are at higher risk for behavioral problems, emotional difficulties, and physical health issues, including depression, anger management problems, heart disease, and more.

Can the brain heal from the effects of early adversity?

Yes, the brain is capable of healing and changing. Effective treatments and therapy can help individuals affected by early adversity overcome trauma and learn healthier ways to respond to stress.

What is the public health significance of addressing early adversity?

Reducing or eliminating early adversity has a profound impact on long-term health outcomes, including reducing the risk of chronic diseases, mental health issues, and infectious diseases.

What is the focus of lesson two mentioned in the script?

Lesson two will cover the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study and its findings, which help inform efforts to prevent and treat adverse childhood experiences.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Brain Development and Early Experiences

This paragraph discusses the critical nature of early childhood for brain development. It explains how experiences, both positive and negative, shape the brain by forming neural pathways that impact lifelong cognitive and behavioral functioning. The analogy of brain development to laying down roads in a town is used to illustrate how repeated experiences strengthen these pathways. The importance of safe, stable, and nurturing environments for children is emphasized, as they provide the context for healthy brain development. The paragraph also introduces the concept of toxic stress, which can disrupt brain development when a child is exposed to chronic adversities like abuse or neglect.

05:02

🚨 The Impact of Toxic Stress on Brain Development

Paragraph two delves into the effects of toxic stress on a child's brain, particularly focusing on how it can lead to long-term problems in various domains including behavior, emotion, and cognition. It highlights that children who experience adverse childhood events are at a higher risk for issues such as depression, anger management problems, and chronic diseases in adulthood. The paragraph also touches on the brain's capacity for healing and change, suggesting that effective treatments can help mitigate the effects of early adversity. It emphasizes the importance of shifting the conversation from blame to providing support and opportunities for those affected by early trauma. The role of resilience in overcoming early adversity is acknowledged, and the potential for adults to receive therapy and support to overcome past traumas is discussed. The paragraph concludes with the significance of public health initiatives in reducing early adversity to improve overall health outcomes.

Keywords

💡Brain Development

Brain development refers to the process by which the brain grows and changes throughout an individual's life, particularly during childhood. In the video, it is emphasized that early childhood is the most critical period for this development, as experiences during this time significantly shape the neural pathways that form the foundation for cognitive and behavioral functioning. The analogy of laying down roads in a town is used to illustrate how experiences strengthen these pathways, thereby influencing how one thinks and interacts with the world.

💡Neural Pathways

Neural pathways are the physical connections in the brain that transmit signals between neurons. They are crucial for learning and memory. The video explains that as children interact with their environment, their experiences stimulate the brain to form these pathways, which are then reinforced through repetition. These pathways are the 'roads' in the brain that determine how information is processed and how actions are initiated.

💡Toxic Stress

Toxic stress in the video is defined as the harmful stress response that occurs when a child is exposed to severe, chronic adversity, such as abuse or neglect, without a supportive adult to buffer the impact. This type of stress can disrupt brain development, leading to long-term behavioral and cognitive challenges. The video highlights that while some stress is normal and can be beneficial, toxic stress has a negative impact on the brain's development and overall health.

💡Cortisol

Cortisol is a hormone that is produced in response to stress. The video explains that when a child experiences toxic stress, their body may continuously produce cortisol, which can have detrimental effects on brain development and other bodily functions. The constant production of cortisol is 'toxic' because it can weaken certain areas of the brain responsible for complex functions, leading to lifelong challenges.

💡Fight or Flight Response

The fight or flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. The video describes how this response is necessary in moments of crisis but can become toxic if it is activated too frequently or for extended periods. In children experiencing toxic stress, this response can remain chronically activated, which can hinder the development of other essential neural pathways.

💡Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, refer to potentially traumatic events experienced in childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction. The video discusses how children who have experienced ACEs are at an increased risk for a range of long-term problems, including mental health issues, chronic diseases, and behavioral problems. The term is central to the video's message about the importance of addressing early adversity.

💡Resilience

Resilience in the context of the video refers to the ability of individuals, particularly children, to overcome adversity and prevent long-term negative effects. It is highlighted that not all children who experience early adversity will inevitably suffer from adverse effects, as some demonstrate resilience and can bounce back from difficult experiences. The video emphasizes the importance of recognizing and supporting resilience in children.

💡Therapeutic Intervention

Therapeutic intervention is the process of providing treatment or therapy to individuals who have experienced trauma or adversity. The video suggests that effective therapeutic interventions can help those affected by early adversity to heal from trauma and learn new ways to cope with stress. It underscores the importance of such interventions in preventing long-term negative outcomes associated with toxic stress.

💡Stress Response System

The stress response system is the body's physiological reaction to stress, which includes the release of hormones like cortisol. The video explains that while this system is necessary for survival in moments of crisis, it can become detrimental when activated too frequently or for extended periods, as in the case of toxic stress. The constant activation of this system can lead to the weakening of certain brain areas, affecting a child's development.

💡Public Health

Public health in the video is discussed in the context of the impact of early adversity on an individual's health throughout their lifetime. It is noted that the CDC, as a public health agency, is interested in understanding and addressing factors that influence health, including early adversity. The video suggests that reducing or eliminating early adversity can have a significant positive impact on the health of the population.

Highlights

The brain's development is influenced by experiences throughout life, with early childhood being the most critical period.

Brain development can be likened to laying down roads in a town according to experiences.

Safe and nurturing environments are crucial for healthy brain development in children.

Adverse experiences can lead to toxic stress, which disrupts brain development.

Repeated exposure to adversity can result in long-term negative effects on a child's brain development.

Positive and negative experiences shape the brain's electrical circuits and future behavior.

Toxic stress can have long-term consequences on an individual's neurological development.

Stress hormones like cortisol, produced in response to stress, can negatively impact brain development.

Toxic stress can weaken parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and social interactions.

Children with adverse childhood experiences are at higher risk for various long-term problems.

Early adversity can lead to increased risk of mental health issues, criminal behavior, and chronic diseases.

The brain has the capacity to heal and change, even after experiencing early adversity.

Effective treatments can help individuals affected by early adversity to heal and learn new coping mechanisms.

Resilience can help children overcome early adversity and prevent long-term effects.

Therapies and social programs can assist adults in overcoming the effects of early adversity.

Reducing early adversity can have a significant impact on the health of the population.

The CDC is interested in factors that influence health, including the profound impact of early adversity.

Preventing and treating adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can improve public health outcomes.

Transcripts

[ Music ]

>> Our brains develop and change throughout life,

enabling us to learn and do new things

and to adapt at every age.

But childhood, and early childhood in particular,

is the most sensitive and critical period

for brain development.

As a child interacts with the world, their experiences,

both positive and negative, stimulate the brain,

causing it to form neural pathways that lay the foundation

for lifelong cognitive and behavioral functioning.

>> I like to think of brain development as the brain is

like a, the site of a town so you can lay out roadwork.

You're laying down roads according to,

in the brain's case, according to experiences.

So you have an experience and your brain laid down a path.

And the more you have that experience,

the bigger that path is going to get and the stronger,

and then it's paved, it becomes a real road in a highway.

And you're laying out the gridwork

of the town according to your experiences.

And that's very much like the brain development.

The more you have experiences,

the stronger those electrical circuits are going to be.

And that's going to shape the way you think,

and act, and view the world.

>> Safe, stable, nurturing relationships

and environments provide the context

for healthy brain development

when children have ample opportunities

to learn and explore.

In this setting, children acquire a range of experiences

that stimulate different parts of the brain allowing

for healthy, balanced development.

Some degree of adversity and stress is a normal

and essential part of human development

that can help children learn how to react to future challenges.

But a child who's repeatedly exposed to adversities

like abuse, neglect, or unstable relationships

and environments may experience what's known as toxic stress

and this can disrupt brain development.

>> Our experiences literally shape the way our brain is

developing and the brain architecture.

So if you have a baby, a very young baby,

who cries when they're hungry and mother comes over

and feeds the baby and helps the baby settle down,

the baby goes back to sleep, that happens, what,

five, ten times a day.

And that is laid down as electrical circuits are laid

down in the brain and so the baby learns that you cry,

you get fed, you sooth, and you go to sleep.

And that experience is sort of coded into the brain,

just like any other experience.

So good experiences help the brain develop in a certain way.

And if you have adverse experiences,

that same baby cries, and cries, and cries

and the parents are addicted to opiate drugs, let's say.

And they ignore the baby.

The baby is left alone for ten hours in the dark.

That baby's brain is still developing

but it's developing in a different way.

Their experience is much different

and so it is developing in a way that says, "You can cry,

and cry, and cry and escalate

that stress response as much as you want.

Nothing is going to happen."

And the interpretation of that is not only is the brain

realizing that they're not going to get soothed,

but the child learns, and this is laid down in the brain,

the child learns that the world is an unsafe place,

that they are insignificant.

There's no one out there to help them.

And that is all laid down in the brain as well.

>> There are different forms of stress

that any individual is exposed to.

There's positive stress

that oftentimes is very short term but, you know,

it's something that everybody experiences.

So even if you said, you know, waking up in the morning,

going to work, going to school, that's, you know,

one form of stress, very short term but something

that your body has to adjust to.

You can have very neutral forms of stress

that are a little bit longer term but things in which,

you know, there are resources and support that help you adapt

to it, whereas there's other kinds of things

that are more long term kinds of negative stress and that's

where toxic stress really fits into.

Things in which person doesn't have,

or an individual does not have the kind of resources

and support to try to deal with it and it has a negative effect

in a long term consequences on that particular individual.

So it's toxic in the sense

of the body responds to that stress.

You know, one of the things

that is produced is a hormone called cortisol

and that constant production of cortisol has a negative effect

on brain development, on neurological development,

and on other kinds of organs and tissues in the body.

>> When we experience stress or encounter a threat,

the brain triggers the body to produce hormones

that activate a stress response, or what's often referred

to as the fight or flight response.

In a moment of crisis, this response is necessary

and potentially life-saving.

But stress can become toxic

when the stress response system is activated frequently

or for prolonged periods of time.

If a child is constantly afraid, her body and brain will remain

on high alert, preparing her to react should a threat return.

Her body will continually produce stress hormones

and the stress response system will remain activated

in her brain, drawing energy away from other neural pathways

in need of development or maintenance.

In a child experiencing toxic stress, parts of the brain

that might be weakened are those regulating complex functions

like emotional self-regulation, social interactions,

and abstract thinking.

This may have consequences throughout life and can result

in social, behavioral, and cognitive challenges.

>> Toxic stress implies a certain level of adversity

and that often occurs early in life, within childhood.

So children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences

have been found through very diligent research to be

at increased risk for a number of long term problems

when they reach adolescence and adulthood,

and these problems really span multiple domains.

They can be behavioral problems, emotional problems,

and physical problems.

So if you think about it,

children who have had early adversity are at higher risk,

much higher risk for major depression and suicidality,

for anger management problems, for delinquency

and high risk behavior, for dropping out of school,

for teen pregnancy, for runaway behavior, for adult criminality,

and for liver disease, and lung disease,

and heart disease among other things.

So it has a profound long term impact potentially.

>> And yet the brain is capable of healing and changing.

Effective treatments can help those affected

by early adversity and give them a chance to heal from traumas

and learn new ways to interpret and react

to stressors and other stimuli.

Fortified by this information,

we can shift the conversation away from one that blames

and punishes people for inappropriate reactions

and behaviors that developed in childhood due

to adversity and trauma.

Instead, we can champion the need for expanded services

and opportunities that help people overcome early adversity.

And we can focus on ways to prevent abuse, neglect,

and other challenges before they occur.

>> I don't want to imply that any child

who experiences early adversity is on a mission

where they inevitably will experience these adverse affects

long term.

That's not the case at all.

Many kids are resilient and so they are able

to overcome this adversity very early on

and prevent the long term effects.

Some adults will experience those long term effects

but there are ways that we can help the adults.

And very often -- I work at a child sexual abuse clinic --

and very often our parents will come in, the mother will come in

and say, "My daughter was sexually abused," and it comes

out while I'm talking to her

that she was sexually abused as well.

She never got therapy.

So for 20 years she's been living with this experience

and hasn't told anyone.

That's not too late.

She can still get help.

She can still get therapy.

She can still work through that.

She can still kind of overcome that and move on

and not have an increased risk of adversity.

There are other social programs that are helpful.

For example, programs that help people develop some

of those skills that maybe they didn't develop early on,

that the skills are related to planning,

controlling their emotions, and controlling their impulses,

and getting hold of that automatic response,

that jump to anger, getting hold of that, calming it down,

learning how to do that can help tremendously.

>> CDC is the nation's public health agency and as such,

are really interested in those factors, risk factors,

and protective factors, that influence health.

And it turns out that early adversity in the form

of violence and other adverse events has a profound impact

on health throughout the lifetime.

Mental health impacting infectious diseases

as well as chronic diseases.

So, as such, early adversity and the influence

of that is critically important

from the public health standpoint.

And it's strategic.

If we can reduce or eliminate early adversity,

we can have an enormous impact on health

of the U.S. population and, in fact,

people around the world during the course

of their entire lives.

>> In lesson two, you'll learn

about the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences

Study and about findings from the study that can aid

in our efforts to prevent and treat ACE's.