Infancy is a time of extreme opportunity, but it is also a time of extreme vulnerability, particularly for those reared in high-risk environments. Although infant exposure to any risk is important to understand, this brief focuses on the experience and impact of "trauma," defined as witnessing or experiencing an event that poses a real…

The issue of children living in residential group care in Israel completely without family ties is studied in order to explore the feelings of staff and uncover possible characteristics of these children. Data were collected through focus groups, questionnaires, and life stories of children who left group care at 18 years of age. Results reveal…

The Children's Headline Indicators are a set of measures designed to focus policy attention and to help guide and evaluate policy development on key issues for children's health, development and wellbeing in 19 priority areas. They were endorsed by health, community and disability services ministers and education systems officials in 2006.…

This study aims to understand if greater severity of maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), related to maternal report of interpersonal violence, mediates the effects of such violence on (a) child PTSS as well as on (b) child externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Study participants were mothers (N = 77) and children 18 to 48 months…

A vast literature has examined the impact of family income on the health and development outcomes of children. One channel through which increased income may operate is an improvement in a family's ability to provide food, shelter, clothing, books, and other expenditure-related inputs to a child's development. In addition to this channel, many…

International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) is a Dutch non-profit organization with a world-wide brief, and a focus on transitional and developing countries. ICDI promotes the well-being of children growing up in difficult circumstances. As a result of the global recession, 2009 was a challenging year for many organizations working in the…

In this article, we argue that policymakers in America should reference a coherent, comprehensive, and child-centered framework for children. That is, based on an extensive review of the empirical literature on the first two decades of life, we conclude that policies should address the needs of young people throughout the first two decades of…

War may be the most profound psychosocial stressor on child and adolescent development, for it has the potential to inflict loss, disruption of stability, deleterious health effects and family/community system disorganization. This article reviews the literature regarding the effects of war on children and explores the role and function of the…

Using an ecological framework, the existing literature and research, and the authors' combined 60 years of clinical practice with children, youth, and families, this article examines gender variant childhood development from a holistic viewpoint where children, youth, and environments are understood as a unit in the context of their relationship…

Cognitive outcomes at age 11 of 131 Romanian adoptees from institutions were compared with 50 U.K. adopted children. Key findings were of both continuity and change: (1) marked adverse effects persisted at age 11 for many of the children who were over 6 months on arrival; (2) there was some catch-up between ages 6 and 11 for the bottom 15%; (3)…

Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) is a randomized, controlled trial of an innovative preventive intervention for preadolescent youth (ages 9-11) placed in out-of-home care. The program is designed to promote child well-being by identifying and addressing mental health issues, preventing adolescent risk behaviors, and promoting competence. This paper…

Research examining the effects of sports participation on children and youth is reviewed from the perspective of psychological and physical development. Statistical information regarding the participation rate in different kinds of youth sports is given. The effects of prolonged athletic activity on bone, muscle, and adipose tissue growth is…

A modern and healthy society can be created only by bringing up the individuals of the society in a healthy way and according to the needs of the modern era. Thus, it is important to grow healthy children and young people. The first duty, which belongs to the family, is to make the children and the young people, who are the hope of the society and…

The Children's Bureau of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has undertaken the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) to learn about the experiences of children and families who come in contact with the child welfare system. NSCAW is gathering information associated…