Impact of childhood stress

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July 11, 2011 — A recent investigation that builds on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study highlights what many mental health professionals have suspected all along: that sustained stress can have a more damaging effect on children than even a traumatic event. Stressors like neglect, substance abuse in the family, and parental divorce can likely produce children who have learning disabilities, behavioral problems – even obesity. Although difficult to control, childhood stress can be diminished with early intervention and better screenings. Dr. Dan Gottlieb discusses sustained childhood stress as a behavioral and medical issue.

Guests include: Steven Berkowitz, Sandra Bloom, and Vincent Felitti, MDs. We’ll also hear from one of the chief investigators of the recent study on childhood trauma. Steven Berkowitzis an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and is the Director of the Penn Center for Youth and Family Trauma Response and Recovery. Sandra Bloom is a psychiatrist and nationally recognized expert on trauma. She is co-author of Bearing Witness: Violence and Collective Responsibility, among other books. She is with the School of Public Health at Drexel University. Vincent Felitti is an internist with Kaiser Permanente and co-lead author of the ACE Study.