""Our main finding was that investment from maternal grandmothers seemed to be able to protect their grandchild from the negative influence of experiencing multiple adverse early-life experiences," Samuli Helle, the lead researcher, told HuffPost."
"'Adverse childhood experiences' is a phrase psychologists and others use to describe 'traumatic events or difficult circumstances that happened between the ages of 0 to 17,' Whitney Raglin Bignall, associate clinical director for the Kids Mental Health Foundation, explained to HuffPost. Examples, she said, might include 'abuse, neglect, having an incarcerated caregiver, witnessing violence,' living with a caregiver with substance abuse issues or living in poverty or in an under-resourced setting."
"In childhood, Bignall said, these experiences may 'change brain development and impact their body's response to stress,' 'negatively impact their ability to develop healthy relationships,' 'impact their ability to pay attention, learn and make decisions' and 'lead to poor mental health.'"
A 2007 survey of 1,566 English and Welsh youth ages 11 to 16 excluded participants who lived with grandparents or who had no living grandparents. A behavioral screening questionnaire measured emotional and behavioral problems. Investment from maternal grandmothers appeared to protect grandchildren from the negative influence of experiencing multiple adverse early-life experiences. Adverse childhood experiences include abuse, neglect, caregiver incarceration, witnessing violence, caregiver substance abuse, poverty, or under-resourced environments. Multiple ACEs increase the likelihood of mental health problems, substance use, and chronic physical illnesses and can alter brain development and the body's stress response, impairing relationships, attention, learning, and decision-making.
#adverse-childhood-experiences #maternal-grandmother-investment #youth-mental-health #long-term-physical-health
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