The 1 Grandparent Who Has The Biggest Impact On Kids

""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."

Data came from a 2007 survey completed by 1,566 English and Welsh youth ages 11 to 16; youth who lived with grandparents or who did not have at least one living grandparent were excluded. The survey included a behavioral screening questionnaire to measure emotional and behavioral problems. Investment from maternal grandmothers protected grandchildren from the negative influence of experiencing multiple adverse early-life experiences. Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events or difficult circumstances between ages 0 and 17, including abuse, neglect, having an incarcerated caregiver, witnessing violence, caregiver substance abuse, poverty, or under-resourced settings. Not every person with such experiences will have issues, but risk increases with each additional trauma. In childhood, these experiences may change brain development and impact the body's response to stress.

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