In May 2009, the WHO and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDC, Atlanta GA) met in Geneva, Switzerland, to begin a collaborative effort to build a framework for public health surveillance that can be used to define the global health burden of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In addition to WHO…

This paper uses recent longitudinal data about a cohort of young children born in the United States to mostly unmarried parents to examine the association between increasingly-complex patterns of family instability and physical health in early childhood. The analyses assess whether, and how, the association between family instability and child health varies across a numb…

Aims: This paper presents a model that encompasses pathways and mechanisms working over adolescence that contribute to adult health inequalities. We review evidence on the four mechanisms: socially differential exposure, tracking, socially differential tracking, and socially differential vulnerability. Methods: We conducted literature searches in English-language peer-re…

Stressfull Life-Change Events (SLEs) are personal, social, familial, and occupational life changes that require coping or adaptation, and they are generally believed to induce stress. Children may experience multiple SLEs, such as a family member’s death or a move to a new home; the accumulation of SLEs is associated with multiple physical and mental health…

The purpose of the paper was to conduct a systematic review of early life stress and its association with psychiatric disorders in adulthood. The occurrence of early stress has lasting negative consequences on the individual, with psychopathology onset one of the most important consequences. The degree of early life stress is associated with the severity…

Individuals exposed to high levels of stress might have an increased risk of infectious diseases. However, most of the previous studies have been conducted among adults. To examine the effect of childhood stress, we conducted a nationwide cohort study including all Danish children born from 1977 to 2004. Stressful life events (SFLE) included parental death,…

Advances in fields of inquiry as diverse as neuroscience, molecular biology, genomics, developmental psychology, epidemiology, sociology, and economics are catalyzing an important paradigm shift in our understanding of health and disease across the lifespan. This converging, multidisciplinary science of human development has profound implications for our ability to enhan…

El consumo de tabaco es una causa bien conocida de morbimortalidad y menos conocida de problemas de salud mental, ya sea en forma de trastornos mentales (p. ej., depresión mayor) o de malestares subclínicos, como es el caso de los estados de ánimo negativos. La mayoría de los fumadores adultos se inician en el consumo…

Psychological or emotional maltreatment of children may be the most challenging and prevalent form of child abuse and neglect. Caregiver behaviors include acts of omission (ignoring need for social interactions) or commission (spurning, terrorizing); may be verbal or nonverbal, active or passive, and with or without intent to harm; and negatively affect the child’s cogni…

The past few decades have witnessed significant advances toward an integrative approach to studying health and development. Behavioral, psychological, and social processes are fundamental to a comprehensive understanding of health, disease resistance, and wellness. Scholars have identified multiple determinants of health across the lifespan, including genetics, health be…