Early Childhood Stress and Neurobiological Effects

Early childhood is a critical period in a child’s life that includes ages from birth to five years old. Children are constantly developing, physically and emotionally. Stress can be beneficial by helping children develop skills needed to adapt to new situations and deal with dangerous and intimidating situations. However, there is a point where prolonged stress becomes harmful and can lead to serious health effects. Although stress is a factor for the average human being, it can be a molding aspect in a young child’s life. Stress can beneficial by helping children develop skills needed to adapt to new situations and deal with dangerous and intimidating situations. Stress is caused by internal or external influences that disrupt an individual’s normal state of well-being. These influences are capable of affecting health by causing emotional distress and leading to a variety of physiological changes Internal stressors include physiological conditions such as hunger, pain, illness or fatigue. Other internal sources of stress consist of shyness in a child, emotions, gender, age and intellectual capacity. External stressors include separation from family, exposure to family conflict, abuse, divorce, a new home or school, illness and hospitalization, death of a loved one, poverty, natural disasters, and adults’ negative discipline techniques. Additional external stressors include prenatal drug exposure, such as maternal methamphetamine use, other maternal and paternal substance abuse, maternal depression, posttraumatic stress and psychosis. Stress is an inevitable part of life. Human beings experience stress early, even before they are born. A certain amount of stress is normal and necessary for survival. A few stressors can be manageable for young children, however, there is a point where prolonged stress becomes harmful and can lead to serious health effects. When stress builds up in early childhood, neurobiological factors are affected. In turn, hormone cortisol levels are uncontrollable and cannot be brought back to normal ranges.