Toxic stress from frightening or threatening experiences can impede children’s learning and health. “…children with a family income of $20,000 or less—are more likely to encounter threatening experiences and the “toxic stress” that accompanies it.” Toxic stress can be a product of traumatic events and environmental circumstances, such as the neighborhood that a child grows up in. “While management of the effect of toxic stress on children is essential, it may be that at least some can be prevented with targeted initiatives.”
Read the new report that affirms that connection, and explains how childhood experiences can also permanently alter children’s physiology, creating “toxic stress.”