Stress And Development

Everyday millions of Americans fight their own internal battles. From job insecurity, to healthcare, most of the stress that arises in Americans caused by money related complications. Stress relates to a myriad of health problems like high blood pressure, sleepless nights, chest pain, and much more.  What is even more shocking is that now scientists have discovered that stress can hinder the livelihood of children.

An article from USNews titled Early Childhood Poverty Damages Brain Development, Study Finds states that poverty may be the cause to many developmental issues regarding mental and social development. Researchers studied 145 children ranging from six to twelve years of age. They studied this cohort since their preschool days and found that “poverty also appears to alter the physical makeup of a child’s brain”. They found that children exposed to poverty from a young age had “smaller volumes of white and cortical gray matter” other parts of their brains were different as well. This is rather alarming as it shows that brain development is affected by an external matter. From this finding they concluded that attention and nurture are even more of importance to compensate the effects of poverty. In fact, poverty can be the cause of not only low test scores at schools but also mental disorders. The article focuses on the momentous value of nurturing and caring for one’s child and says that the lack of care is just as toxic as drugs and alcohol. This is a powerful sentiment as it really drives home the message throughout the article.

In class we had the opportunity to hear Dr. Daniel A. Hackman speak about his research. Hackman and his team conducted a study where they used animals to test early life experiences. Their goal was to figure out if there was a correlation between parental behaviors and “influences [in] later-life stress.” In Dr. Hackman’s lecture, he stated that children who are exposed to poverty early on are more susceptible to experience learning and cognitive delays. Through his findings, he drew a connection between cortisol levels in a child and their exposure to poverty. Cortisol is a hormone that maintains homeostasis and it is associated with stress. Cortisol plays an integral role in blood sugar, blood pressure, heart contraction, and other immune responses. It is secreted into the bloodstream in higher dosages when the body is experiencing a stress trigger. Dr. Heckman stated that “socioeconomic position predicts a lot of outcomes. Even in childhood you can predict a child’s health years from now.” This is a startling discovery as it shows that the early years of development are the most crucial. He went on to explain how SEP patterns the access that children and adults have to life opportunities and when trying to “impact the mechanisms it is rather complex and cumulative”. This means that since more than one aspect is involved in socioeconomic determinants, it is a challenge to try and pinpoint the perpetrator.  Offering love and protection for a child is extremely important but when parents are stricken with poverty they are distracted. He said that because there are so many stressed like money and food that parents are not able to provide adequate attention to their children

The article and Dr. Heckman’s talk both stress (no pun intended here) the impact of socioeconomic factors on brain development of children. This topic on early development and stress is intriguing as it shows the negative side to stress. These studies focus on stress in extreme situations. Poverty is something that a child or even the parents cannot necessarily overcome since it is dependent on a multitude of factors. It is important to note that not all stress is bad, however. In my opinion adolescents who are faced with manageable stresses are more inclined to handle what life throws at them in a positive manner. In life there is hardship after hardship and those obstacles help shape teens and young adults as manageable stress leads to more well-rounded individuals.

:Works Cited:

Hackman, Daniel A., Laura M. Betancourt, Nancy L. Brodsky, Lara Kobrin, Hallam Hurt, and Martha J. Farah. "Selective Impact of Early Parental Responsivity on Adolescent Stress Reactivity." PLoS ONE 8.3 (2013): n. pag. Web.

"Early Childhood Poverty Damages Brain Development, Study Finds." US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.