Positive Childhood Experiences Help Kids Navigate Adversity, says USU Professor
USU pediatrics associate professor Dr. Binny Chokshi is currently working to develop a strategy for educating parents and clinicians about how positive childhood experiences can help to mitigate the impact of stressful life events for children.
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Dr. Ruby Tan listens with stethoscope on a two-year old patient in Pediatrics, Kenner Army Health Clinic, Fort Lee, Va., during a physical exam July 29, 2019. (Photo credit: Lesley Atkinson, KAHC, PAO) |
June 13, 2023 by Ian Neligh
Research shows that the absence of positive childhood experiences in the life of a child, such as the presence of a supportive caregiver, can be far more detrimental than the presence of negative experiences.
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Dr. Binny Chokshi, an associate professor of pediatrics at USU is working to create a way to inform parents and healthcare professionals about how positive childhood experiences may decrease the effects of stressful life events for children. (Courtesy Photo) |
“My focus has always been in training healthcare professionals to recognize how life experiences affect health outcomes,” said Chokshi, who came to the university from Children’s National Hospital last year where she worked for the past decade.
According to Chokshi, the pediatric world has largely focused on how adverse experiences, such as child abuse, neglect, having a parent with a mental illness or incarcerated, negatively affected health outcomes and led to poor health and wellness as an adult.
“There’s lots of research in early childhood interventions that focus on identifying and preventing adversity — but many of us in the field felt like this was a deficit-based approach, that missed recognizing the tremendous strengths that can define our patients and their families.” Chokshi said.
According to Chokshi, the Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE) movement is a newer idea she subscribes to showing adults who had exposure as kids to positive childhood experiences, such as a sense of belonging in their community or family support, better navigated difficult childhood experiences put in their path.
In 2019, a Johns Hopkins study of 6,188 adults was undertaken to assess the role of seven specific PCEs in impacting adult mental and relational health. These included being able to talk about feelings with family, having support during tough times, having fun with traditions, fitting in at school, having supportive friends, having care from non-parent adults and feeling safe at home.
“What the research shows is that experiences to these (positive) events in childhood were protective for adult mental and relational health and also helped to mitigate the impact of adversity,” Chokshi said, “(This) demonstrated that the health impact of adverse events is not destiny. So the pediatric world really took hold of this (idea) because if we can mitigate the stress associated with these life experiences, then maybe we can foster good health and wellness in childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.”
These findings are something Chokshi said she has really taken to heart and applied to military pediatrics
“There are unique stressors that military kids face and are inherent to military life, they are not preventable” Chokshi said. “If you’re going to be a military child in a military family, you will likely have a parent who is deployed or you will likely need to move around a lot.”
While studies have shown that these stressors can impact the health and wellness of military connected children, the PCE research highlights that these effects can be counteracted by the promotion of positive experiences. Positive experiences allow for children to build strong coping skills, through the cultivation of strong support systems, confidence, and a sense of belonging.
Chokshi’s current goal is to help educate people in both military and civilian spaces about the importance of positive support and experiences for children going through stressful periods. Chokshi recommends educating parents and providers and to work at decreasing stressors such as food insecurities, and work with schools and community organizations to make sure military kids are being supported in the right ways.
“The reason I like this positive childhood experiences framework is because it helps us to view our patient and helps us to give treatment plans and guidance from a strength-based approach rather than a deficit-based approach,” Chokshi said.
In the future, she is also interested in exploring PCEs specific to military connected children and adolescents.
“Positive childhood experiences can be unique to each kid and they can be unique to different populations,” Chokshi said. “One of the things I’m interested in is surveying military connected adolescents and identifying what experiences they consider to be strength-building or positive for them and thinking about how we might be able to foster the discussion and promotion of positive childhood experiences in the clinic visits.”
