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Cited by 283Child Abuse and TraumaEarly Childhood Education and DevelopmentChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Capitalizing on Advances in Science to Reduce the Health Consequences of Early Childhood Adversity

Shonkoff, Jack P.·2016·JAMA Pediatrics
DOI 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.1559
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Abstract

Advances in biology are providing deeper insights into how early experiences are built into the body with lasting effects on learning, behavior, and health. Numerous evaluations of interventions for young children facing adversity have demonstrated multiple, positive effects but they have been highly variable and difficult to sustain or scale. New research on plasticity and critical periods in development, increasing understanding of how gene-environment interaction affects variation in stress susceptibility and resilience, and the emerging availability of measures of toxic stress effects that are sensitive to intervention provide much-needed fuel for science-informed innovation in the early childhood arena. This growing knowledge base suggests 4 shifts in thinking about policy and practice: (1) early experiences affect lifelong health, not just learning; (2) healthy brain development requires protection from toxic stress, not just enrichment; (3) achieving breakthrough outcomes for young children facing adversity requires supporting the adults who care for them to transform their own lives; and (4) more effective interventions are needed in the prenatal period and first 3 years after birth for the most disadvantaged children and families. The time has come to leverage 21st-century science to catalyze the design, testing, and scaling of more powerful approaches for reducing lifelong disease by mitigating the effects of early adversity.

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Crossref · 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.1559

Cites

13 of 13 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Large positive impacts of early childhood development programs are only evident for those that are high in quality.

    “large positive impacts of these programs are only evident for those that are high in quality [19].”

    From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [19]

  • To achieve the largest societal impact, effective interventions should be provided during the prenatal period and in the first three years of life, maximizing access to the children and families who are the most disadvantaged.

    “to achieve the largest societal impact, effective interventions should be provided during the prenatal period and in the first three years of life, maximizing access to the children and families who are the most disadvantaged [19].”

    From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [19]

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Authors
Shonkoff, J. P.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Shonkoff, Jack P.
Venue
JAMA Pediatrics
Publisher
American Medical Association (AMA)
Published
2016-10-01
Volume
170
Issue
10
Pages
1003
ISSN
  • 1072-4710 (ISSN-L)
  • 2168-6203
DOI
10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.1559
OpenAlex
W2507183583
Semantic Scholar
06bf41bd8a26ed0faed172ada0d39d23f9c4bb42
Cited by
283
References
13
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 3
FWCI
31.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
early childhood adversity, toxic stress, neuroplasticity, critical periods of development, gene-environment interaction, resilience, stress vulnerability, brain development, early childhood intervention, intervention scalability, prenatal care, early childhood education policy
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Brain, Child, Child Development, Psychology, Child, Child Welfare, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Stress, Psychological

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