Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

In Norfolk, we want to raise awareness about the impact of adversity and trauma on children and young people, and how we can strengthen resilience and support recovery.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

(Source: Addressing Adversity, Young Minds, 2018)

Adverse childhood events can create dangerous levels of stress and derail healthy brain development, which can result in long-term effects on learning, behaviour and health. Neurobiological research indicates that the 'toxic stress' (defined as prolonged activation of stress response systems in the absence of protective relationships) associated with ACEs can lead to physical changes in the way the brain develops and propensity to experience future stress, adopt health-harming behaviours and develop mental and physical illness. This does not mean that the brain is fixed in this state; there is much that can be done to respond in a psychologically informed way. The role of schools, teachers and the wider support staff is therefore crucial.
(Source: NHS Scotland, 2017)

Children spend some fifteen thousand hours at school from the start of school until GCSEs. In addition to supporting children's educational outcomes, the physical, social and cultural environment in which staff and students spend so much of their time may impact profoundly on their wellbeing, mental health and their opportunities to choose healthy lifestyles. A systematic review of school-based interventions that promote student social and emotional development and mental health also promote better attainment.

Protective factors at school level include:

• Personal and social skills being covered well in PSHE
• Feelings of belonging
• Perceptions of safety within school
• The quality of relationships with their teachers and peers

However, schools may also impart risk for child mental health and wellbeing. There is a substantial body of evidence that school-based bullying is a key risk factor for the development of psychological disorders including depression, anxiety and self-harm. School bullying may also exert long-term effects on children's educational and social outcomes. Systematic reviews provide evidence that there are effective interventions that serve to reduce bullying, particularly those that target the whole school. Recent research highlights the importance of changing bystander responses - shifting attitudes and actions away from providing implicit support for bullying behaviours such as through laughing or sharing online messages towards a discouraging stance.

Childhood adversity increases children's risk of poor educational, social, mental and health outcomes. However, many children display 'resilience' in the face of adversity, and function at least as well as the average non-exposed child. A great deal of research has focused on the role of children's individual characteristics such as cognitive appraisal and coping strategies. However resilience is not, and should not, be viewed as an issue of individual resources and capabilities. Resilience arises through children's interactions with their social and physical ecologies, from families through to schools, and neighbourhoods. Scaffolding child development by supporting families, building healthy and happy school environments and communities, and addressing social inequalities in access to resources is crucial for enabling vulnerable children exposed to adversity to navigate their way to success. Resilience therefore depends on the structures and social policies that determine availability and access to resources.
(Source: Addressing Adversity, Young Minds, 2018)

For more information and to download the posters, please see youngminds.org.uk.

You may also be interested in out forthcoming training.