Childhood Resilience

Because diaphragmatic breathing costs nothing and requires no equipment, it is one of the most accessible health interventions regardless of economic circumstances. The review defined ACEs as stressful or harmful experiences before age 18 occurring in family or wider social environments. The protocol treats ACE measures as useful but incomplete, and includes ACE terminology in the search strategy because it is widely used in the literature. Parental death, neglect, poor childhood health and childhood hunger were the most commonly studied ACEs. Most studies measured ACEs as binary exposures rather than capturing severity or frequency. ACE research has established that early life psychological stress measurably increases risk for chronic disease in adulthood. The gut microbiome and vagus nerve are identified as the two highest-leverage targets for lifelong health. The ACE checklist was originally developed to examine links between childhood abuse, household dysfunction and adult health outcomes. Nearly half of adults in England and Wales report at least one adverse childhood experience, and about one in ten report four or more. Resilience in the face of stress, not its absence, buff…