Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can negatively influence development. However, the lifelong effects of positive childhood experiences (PACEs) can mitigate the detrimental effects of adverse ones. By integrating existing knowledge about ACEs with developmental research on preventing, buffering, and treating the effects of adversity, stress,…

Recent decades have seen a rise in mental health problems among children and adolescents. Despite a proliferation of studies describing effective school-based mental health programs, reviews of current research in this field suggest a strong lack of consensus concerning the definition of school mental health and its constructs. In the present…

As practitioners have expanded their understanding of the types of events that constitute trauma exposure, the epidemiological database on prevalence suggests that childhood exposure to violence may best be framed as a public health crisis. There seems to be little recognition from policymakers and legislators, however, that violence may be the…

Community, demographic, familial, and personal risk factors of childhood depressive symptoms were examined from an ecological theoretical approach using hierarchical linear modeling. Individual-level data were collected from an ethnically diverse (73% African-American) community sample of 197 children and their parents; community-level data were…

A dynamic simulation model, using census data, was used to examine child health policy initiatives for the prevention of mental retardation. Results suggested that reducing the proportion of children living in poverty would be more effective in reducing the incidence of mental retardation than medical interventions to improve outcomes for low…

As researchers continue to analyze the role of parenting both in the development of childhood overweight and in obesity prevention, studies of child nutrition and growth are detailing the ways in which parents affect their children's development of food- and activity-related behaviors. Ana Lindsay, Katarina Sussner, Juhee Kim, and Steven Gortmaker…

Mary Story, Karen Kaphingst, and Simone French argue that researchers and policymakers focused on childhood obesity have paid insufficient attention to child care. Although child care settings can be a major force in shaping children's dietary intake, physical activity, and energy balance--and thus in combating the childhood obesity…

The National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) convened a meeting of 23 stakeholders representing a national cross-section of experts in the fields of health and education on April 30, 2004. Among the participants were school health practitioners, educators, researchers, and funders. The meeting's purpose was to clarify and document…