Dive Brief:
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New research has found a correlation between the number of adverse childhood experiences faced by rising kindergartners and the severity of disruptive behaviors, anxiety and depression found in this population. Yet the correlation doesn't hold for academic and social readiness, with those skills remaining on par with peers who had gone through fewer harmful events.
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The correlation between a high number of ACEs and disruptive behaviors, published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, add to previous research about the impact of early childhood trauma. The effects can be both short term for preschoolers and longer term for a child's K-12 pathways and developmental well-being.
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The findings point to a need for greater awareness of mental health issues and suicide prevention support for young children and their families, particularly those in vulnerable populations, said lead researcher Akira Gutierrez Renzulli, a senior research associate at the Education Development Center, a research and policy nonprofit.
Dive Insight:
The study involved a total of 115 preschoolers attending a comprehensive school readiness summer program in Miami in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The children were in the transitional summer between preschool and kindergarten, and they were enrolled by their parents or other caregivers due to concerns about disruptive behavior problems at home and in school.
The Summer Academy program is an adaptation of the Summer Treatment Program for Pre-Kindergartners, which caters to children entering kindergarten with behavioral, emotional and learning challenges. The seven-week program is supported by Florida International University and The Children's Trust, a nonprofit in Miami-Dade County. It emphasizes school routines, positive behaviors and family engagement, Gutierrez said.
For this study, researchers questioned caregivers and parents to determine the number of ACEs that each child experienced during their lifetime. Nearly all of the participating children participants experienced poverty, Gutierrez said. Other examples of the 29 types identified included neighborhood violence and housing instability.
About 94% of the children experienced at least one ACE, and 49% had four or more . Only 6% of children experienced no ACEs. Researchers didn't study the connection between specific ACEs and behaviors.
Gutierrez said the study revealed what the researchers had expected: Children with higher numbers of ACEs were likely to have a higher prevalence of internalizing and disruptive behaviors.
But what was surprising, Gutierrez said, was the discovery that the number of ACEs had no association with academic functioning, such as early math and reading skills.
Gutierrez said one of the most important takeaways is the need to help even young children and their families find strategies for coping with disruptive and internalizing behaviors. Educators and parents can provide safe spaces and model calming and mindfulness techniques, as well as teach children to identify their emotions, how to manage their feelings, and to ask for help when needed, she said.
"We need to consider trauma-informed models and educate both the providers and the families on the fact that that context of being in a very high needs, under-resourced situation also plays a role in how children behave and how they're experiencing life so early on," Gutierrez said.
