A Blackburn with Darwen study found that almost half (47%) of adults across the Borough have suffered at least one ACE, with 12% of adults in Blackburn with Darwen having suffered four or more ACEs. The study has shown that the more ACEs individuals experience in childhood, the greater their risk of a wide range of health-harming behaviours and diseases as an adult. The ACE animation below tells the story of a young boy growing up, and how his experience with ACEs could affect his life...

By Lotte C. Houtepen, Jon Heron, Matthew J. Suderman, et al., PLOS Medicine, March 2, 2020 Background Experiencing multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a risk factor for many adverse outcomes. We explore associations of ACEs with educational attainment and adolescent health and the role of family and socioeconomic factors in these associations. Methods and findings Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a prospective cohort of children born...

CHARITIES have issued a call to “halt the cycle of childhood trauma” by providing increased support for parents dealing with harmful drinking habits. An estimated 30,000-51,000 Scottish children are being raised by problem drinkers, according to a recent report, with many youngsters at risk of imitating the same deleterious behaviour. Experts in harm-reduction and welfare organisations are warning that urgent support is needed to ensure fewer adults are faced with entrenched alcohol problems...

Cuts to children's services budgets for family support and youth work represent a "false economy", simply leading to greater pressure on safeguarding provision, Ofsted has warned. The inspectorate's annual report noted that while the overall effectiveness of children's services provision is continuing to improve, the impact of ongoing financial restrictions risks jeopardising progress. Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said that local authority social care budgets have experienced the...

Abstract Suicide in children and young people is a major public health concern. However, it is unknown whether individuals who have been in the care of the child welfare system are at an elevated risk. Care is presently defined as statutory provision of in-home care (e.g. child living with birth family but in receipt of legal order involving supervision by social workers) or out-of-home care (e.g. foster care , residential care and kinship care). This paper presents a systematic review and...

Highlights •Global problem of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and suicide among young people •Unknown if young people in care are at an elevated risk. •Systematic review comparing prevalence between care and non-care populations •Suicide attempt is more than three times as likely among those in care. •Further comparative studies are required. Abstract Suicide in children and young people is a major public health concern. However, it is unknown whether individuals who have been in the care...

All children and young people in the UK should be kept safe and have equal access to justice, regardless of where they were born. However, sweeping changes made to legal aid provision for immigration cases have put some of the most vulnerable children in this country at serious risk and unable to get the help they need. This report, written in partnership with Dr Helen Connolly, University of Bedfordshire, highlights the needs of unaccompanied and separated children in a system that often...

This report centres on findings from Centrepoint’s analysis of data collected for the 2017/18 Youth homelessness databank . The databank collects local data from across the UK on the scale of youth homelessness. It also provides an insight into the type of interactions young people are having with their local councils and what support is being offered. The research estimates 103,000 young people asked for help from their local council in 2017/18 because they were homeless or at risk of...

We now need the right climate in the workplace for survivors to talk openly and with full confidence so that their employer can provide appropriate support.

By Sally Weale, March 31, 2020, The Guardian Anne Longfield plans to recruit retired staff to help vulnerable children amid coronavirus crisis The children’s commissioner for England has called for an army of volunteers to help support children’s social care during the coronavirus crisis in an effort to stop the most vulnerable falling through the gaps and disappearing from view. Just as doctors and nurses who left the NHS have responded to calls to return to work to help save lives, Anne...

According to the BBC, Facebook has begun to develop algorithms that locate warning signs in users’ posts and the comments other users post in response to this. Once highlighted, the company’s human review team will assess the situation and, if necessary, contact those thought to be at risk of self-harm. They will subsequently suggest ways in which the user can seek help. Facebook has stated that this new technology is not only helpful but also critical to the well-being of users. So far, the...

There are of course lots of examples of fine work going on around ACEs, but there are also aspects of the ACE movement that make me feel a little uncomfortable. I worry that what is clearly a well-intentioned desire to just do something might not do good and could cause harm. My concerns are absolutely not meant as a criticism of the motivation and altruism underlying the ACEs movement, but as a cautionary nudge to make sure that, in our enthusiasm to do good, we don’t run before we can walk.

This article intrigued me, is this purely PTSD or did it included identifying CPTSD or developmental trauma?... MRC-funded research from King’s College London suggests one in 13 young people in the UK have had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before reaching age 18. The first UK-based study of its kind, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, found 31% of young people had a traumatic experience during childhood, and those who were exposed to trauma were twice as likely as their peers to...

The Childrens Society Report attached...

By Background Sexual minority adolescents are more likely to have mental health problems, adverse social environments, and negative health outcomes compared with their heterosexual counterparts. There is a paucity of up-to-date population-level estimates of the extent of risk across these domains in the UK. We analysed outcomes across mental health, social environment, and health-related domains in sexual minority adolescents compared with their heterosexual counterparts in a large,...

The first UK-based study of its kind, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, found 31% of young people had a traumatic experience during childhood, and those who were exposed to trauma were twice as likely as their peers to have a range of mental health disorders. Relatively little is known about the extent of trauma and its effects on mental health in young people. The researchers looked at participants in the E-Risk Study , funded by the MRC, which includes 2,232 children born in England and...

In the new report, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Resilience, and Trauma-Informed Care: A Public Health Approach to Understanding and Responding to Adversity , Professor Hugo van Warden, t he director of public health for NHS Highland (Scotland), writes: "This report deals with ‘Adverse Childhood Experiences’ and chronic exposure to ‘toxic stress’. A key message in this report is that such experiences increase the risk of later development of poor mental health, adverse behavioural...

The charities statistics showed there were almost 9,000 times when a girl or woman was assessed at a doctor’s surgery or hospital. Worldwide. It is estimated that 200 million women and girls are affected by FGM. These figures were released to raise awareness and mark the international day of zero tolerance to FGM (which took place on February 7th). The FGM process, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), includes the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or...

By Anne Korn, Biomed Central, May 29, 2020 Evidence available to date suggests that minority ethnic groups in England, particularly black and south Asian people, may be at increased risk of testing positive for Covid-19, compared to people from white British backgrounds, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Medicine. Previous pandemics have often disproportionately impacted ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. While early evidence...

For those of us passionate about social justice and equality, it stands to reason that children growing up in disadvantaged backgrounds may struggle to reach the opportunities and privilege others take for granted. We also know that people from deprived areas tend to have worse health outcomes throughout life than people from better off communities [1] . Poverty has always had clear links to health, but now a biological explanation for part of this may be coming to light. Long-term research...

Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...

To access The Lancet Public Health research, please click here. Background An increasing number of studies are identifying associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and ill health throughout the life course. We aimed to calculate the proportions of major risk factors for and causes of ill health that are attributable to one or multiple types of ACE and the associated financial costs. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched for studies in which risk...