By: Ming Sun

Up until recently, the pediatric world focused on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) when looking for explanations of adult disfunction and difficulty. ACEs are hardships in a person’s childhood that can hamper their ability to have happy and fulfilling lives. However, this perspective on the issue is incomplete because early hardships are not the only factors that lead to a troubled life. Recently, the science of PCEs, or positive childhood experiences, has proven the power that supportive parenting can have on a child.

A 2019 study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics shows the effects of a caring childhood (The Washington Post). In the study, 6188 adults were asked these 7 questions to gauge any PCEs they experienced:

“Had they been able to talk to their families about their feelings? Had they felt their families stood by them during difficult times? Had they enjoyed participating in community traditions? Did they feel a sense of belonging in high school? Were they supported by friends? Were there at least two non-parent adults who took an interest in them? Had they felt safe and protected by an adult in their home?” (The Washington Post)

The study showed that, compared to people with 1 or 0 PCEs, the risk of mental health issues was 72% lower for individuals who reported having at least 6 of these positive experiences, and the risk was 50% lower for those who reported three to five (The Washington Post). These findings can be summed up best by Christina Bethell, the lead author, and a professor of child health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “High adversity does not mean you’re doomed,” said Bethell, “The absence of the positive is the problem” (The Washington Post).

The original study on ACEs was conducted from 1995 to 1997, and its results were published in 1998. The study showed a correlation between ACEs and mental and physical health problems (The Washington Post). This was reinforced by a 2014 study that showed that children with two or more ACEs were more than twice as likely to have health problems and other difficulties (The Washington Post). But the study also introduced a new variable, resilience. In the study, resilience was defined as “the capacity to stay calm and in control, the ability to communicate and to ask for help” (The Washington Post). The study found that children that faced adversities but lived with resilient families were not as prone to difficulties compared to their counterparts from less resilient families. A third study conducted in 2019 studied the effects of positive parenting practices (PPPs), which include activities that create parent and child bonds, on adolescent development (The Washington Post). The study ended up finding that the positive effects of PPPs could even outweigh the consequences of ACEs.

So why should these studies matter to parents? Because they show the power of good parenting tactics, like listening to a child’s feelings and problems and engaging them in family activities. Knowing what we know now, it turns out that helping other parents raise their children goes a long way in helping the children themselves.

Link to article: https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1691331882648x417387197456661600/Positive%20childhood%20experiences%20can%20help%20make%20kids%20more%20resilient%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf