For years now, we have all been hearing about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) and the detrimental effects they can have for the rest of a person’s life. Have you heard about Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE)? Research comparing adults who reported high numbers of PCEs with those who reported low or no PCEs found that adults reporting more PCEs showed 72 percent lower levels of adult depression and/or poor mental health and were 3.5 times more likely to get the social and emotional support they need as an adult (Bethell, et al, 2019).
Other research has found that, when their parents were able to share ideas and talk about things that matter with their child, the child had a 1,200 percent greater chance of flourishing compared to those who did not have this type of communication (Bethell, Gombojav & Whitaker, 2019).
WHAT ARE PCE'S?
What are PCE? Christina Bethell of Johns Hopkins University, one of the major researchers on PCEs, defined a positive childhood experience as “feeling safe in our families to talk about emotions and things that are hard and feeling supported during hard times.” Examples of PCEs include:
- Being able to talk openly to a family member or as a family about feelings and feel heard, accepted and supported.
- Belief that family stood by them during difficult times.
- Feeling safe and protected by an adult in the home.
Not every child comes from a family that is warm, supportive and accepting. Some children live in homes where they don’t feel emotionally and physically safe. The good news is that friends and communities can be sources of PCEs as well. Examples of non-family PCEs include:
- Feeling supported by friends.
- Having a sense of belonging and connection with a larger group who has “got your back” (e.g. school, church, clubs, neighborhood, etc.).
- Enjoyment of participation in community traditions.
- Relationship with at least one non-parent adult who takes genuine interest in you.
The types of experiences that have the most healing effects are not things that can be bought or that necessarily cost a lot of money. They are the experiences that help children learn to trust others even when life is uncertain, difficult or frightening. They happen when we are willing to talk honestly about things that are hard to understand, scary, embarrassing or painful. When adults are willing to have these types of conversations with the children, the result is that children feel reassured that they are not alone in their struggles and they are better able to find meaning or purpose in their struggles.
TIPS FOR NUTURING PCE'S
Some tips for nurturing PCEs with a child you know:
- Don’t assume that a child is doing fine just because he or she is not showing obvious signs of distress. Check in. Ask the child to share their thoughts, feelings and concerns about what is going on. If the child gives a superficial response like “I’m fine” share some of your own thoughts, feelings and concerns to show that it is acceptable to talk openly about these things.
- Listen carefully. Put the electronics down. Give your full attention.
- Some children and most teenagers aren’t comfortable maintaining eye contact when talking about their innermost fears and hurts. They’re more likely to bring these things up at times when they don’t have to look directly at you, like when riding in the car. Don’t dismiss the topic because it is not a good time. Make time, even if it means you have to drive extra laps around the block while you do.
- Offer compassionate empathy rather than solutions. Many of us are uncomfortable hearing another person’s fears, especially if we don’t know how to fix the situation that is causing them. Showing that the child’s emotions aren’t too frightening for you to handle helps the child to feel safer, less out of control and genuinely connected.
- Breathing in the same room is not the same as connecting. Do something together – play a game, do a craft or look at pictures and share memories.
- Let the child’s questions guide you. Children will let you know what is on their mind and what concerns them most through the questions they ask. A great way to start a conversation with the child is to ask, “What questions do you have about what is happening?”
- As much as possible, keep your traditions and rituals going. This can be elaborate and formal as decorating for and making traditional foods for a holiday. It can be as simple and informal as greeting each other with a certain phrase or making up a secret handshake.
- Say the words. Don’t assume they know you care. Every human being needs to hear that he or she is loved. Everyone deserves to hear it when they do a good job. It won’t give them a swelled head if you tell them that you proud of them. It helps them feel connected and appreciated.
This blog post is written by Mary Kreitz. Mary C&A's Trauma Therapist Program Manager. If you are in need of C&A's services, please call 330-433-6075.
RECENT POSTS
For many people changes in the seasons also bring changes in mood, energy, sleep, weight and appetite. Some researchers have found that as many as 90% of people report noticing these types of changes in themselves. However, for some people, the changes are so intense that they interfere with the person’s ability to function in their daily life. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a type of clinical depression that occurs with a consistent seasonal pattern. The symptoms of SAD are the same as those for other depressive disorders; what is different is that the symptoms begin every year around the same time, last for several months, and then go away for the rest of the year. The most common form of SAD is what is known as winter-pattern SAD in which depressive symptoms start in the fall or early winter and end in the spring. Another less common form is known as summer-pattern SAD and is associated with depressive symptoms that occur during the spring and summer months and improve in the fall.
The 2024 election has brought a lot of fear and stress into the lives of people throughout the country. A recent survey by the American Psychological Association found that 77% of adults in the US are worried about the future of the nation, 73% reported feeling stressed out about the economy and 69% reported feeling stressed about the presidential election. When adults are feeling this high of a level of stress, you can bet that children and adolescents are feeling it too.
Are you a trusted adult to your child or someone’s child in your life? What are the characteristics of a trusted adult? Trusted adults are viewed by children or adolescents as a safe figure that listens without judgment, agenda or expectation, but with the sole purpose of supporting and encouraging positivity within a young person’s life. Today’s youth identify a trusted adult as someone who is willing to listen and engage, rather than lecture and give orders. Young adults are interested in having open conversations about mental health, social media, bullying and sharing their own experiences.
Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health’s (C&A) The Canton Repository Let Your Light Shine presented by the Massillon Eagles FOE #190 is Sept. 21 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Canton, from 6-9 p.m. The 19th annual event supports the youth mental health programs and services C&A provides each year to our 4,100 clients.
You have probably heard the scary statistics. LGBTQ+ youth are at higher risk for serious mental health problems (such as anxiety and depression) than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. They’re more likely to consider suicide, more likely to attempt suicide and more likely to engage in non-suicidal self-harm.
Hope and hopelessness play a large role in the phenomenon of suicide and depression including that of children and adolescents (Liu, et al., 2021). On the positive side I am always reminded of the use of hope to overcome hopelessness in stories reminiscent of a hero’s journey. Stories, where in the face of insurmountable odds, one digs in deep to find themselves, their own hope, and the hope of others joining together to help whilst overcoming trials and tribulations (Campbell, 2011).
Suicidal ideation is on the rise nationwide, especially among teenagers and college-age students. Post COVID, adolescents are struggling to handle a variety of situations and have limited coping skills to help them through the challenges. One of the biggest challenges is loneliness.
The sixth annual Stark County Schools Mental Health Awareness Week is May 6-10 Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health (C&A), CommQuest Services and Pathway Caring for Children will partner to bring positive mental health awareness to more than 53,000 students and 7,000 support and administrative staff in all 18 Stark County School districts.
In the film, I’m Not Racist… Am I? as introduced and explored in first of this three-part blog post series, the participants engaged in multiple workshops that address race and racism. Interpersonally, the group of students grapple with their own differences and similarities, which impact the content and emotions they share with each other. There are several moments in the film that demonstrate the clear differences in the participants’ understanding of race. In the first workshop, the students were exposed to the idea that all white people are inherently racist seeing as American society was founded on principles meant to support white people (see more on structural racism here, here, and here for further understanding). Several white students in the film became emotional during that workshop. Most students remained quiet. Following this workshop, a black student and a white student were filmed independently of each other in their own homes and discussed the workshop and what they learned with their families. The white student discussed the differences between structural racism and bigotry with her mother and struggled to identify with the principles taught in the training. The black student stated to his mother how almost everything spoken in that workshop applied to him. The student further discussed his feelings by stating how overt racism is and yet how “subliminal” it is at the same time. How can something be so in your face and yet under your feet simultaneously? I immediately reflected on the dialectic of something being so clear and yet so vague. The film continued to grapple with student differences. At the beginning of the film, one white male student discussed with his mother how he feels that all individuals, if they apply themselves wholeheartedly, have the same chance of success regardless of their skin, gender, sexuality or other demographic factors. As a white man myself, I must confess that when I was in high school, I had the same mindset. How could it be different? Especially when I was reading mythic bootstrap literature in high school classes. Sure, the harder you work the more you deserve, but that statement does not work for all Americans. I had not accounted for racial factors that inhibit the growth of others, not to mention socio-economic factors, nationalities, citizenship status, gender and age. I continued to reflect on these statements and connected them to my experience in high school in New York City. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement responding to the murder of George Floyd, multiple private progressive schools in New York, including the one I went to, suffered scrutiny from students and alumni who identify as black, indigenous people of color (BIPOC). Multiple Instagram accounts surfaced with the handle “BLACK AT [school name].” I read the posts in 2020, and again before writing this post, and remembered feeling horrified knowing these acts of racism, bigotry and microaggressions happened all around me. This was subliminal to me, yet overt to others.
