The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan

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 neces-sary for survival. Stress helps children develop the skills they need to cope with and adapt to new and potentially threatening situations throughout life. Support from parents and/or other concerned caregivers is necessary for children to learn how to respond to stress in a physically and emotion-ally healthy manner.The beneficial aspects of stress diminish when it is severe enough to over-whelm a child’s ability to cope effectively. Intensive and prolonged stress can lead to a variety of short- and long-term negative health effects. It can disrupt early brain development and compromise functioning of the nervous and immune systems. In addition, childhood stress can lead to health problems later in life including alcoholism, depression, eating disorders, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.The purpose of this publication is to summarize the research on childhood stress and its implications for adult health and well-being.