Resource Library

Increasing attention is being placed in the medical and public space on the mental health of infants and young children. Among mental health providers, infant mental health generally refers to children 3 years of age and younger, while early childhood mental health refers to children ages 3-5. This contrasts…

This area of the website for the Center on the Developing Child provides a collection of resources for understanding toxic stress and resilience. A Guide to Toxic Stress…

This brief summarizes essential scientific findings from the Center publications, “The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood”.

This report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs explains how the earliest years lay the groundwork for lifelong health. When children have positive early experiences, they strengthen their developing biological systems and are more likely to thrive and become…

This working paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs examines why addressing the consequences of serious depression in parents and caregivers could support the future prosperity and well-being of both children and society as a whole.

This guide from the Frameworks Institute provides suggestions on how to frame conversations with caregivers who may have experienced toxic stress themselves.  It makes 5 key framing suggestions that can help providers to highlight resilience, reduce caregiver guilt and raise the public health nature of the problem of toxic stress.

Read the article at the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read the article at the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read the article at JAMA Network.

Read the article at Annual Reviews.