Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0-3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress.

Adverse childhood experiences are an important societal concern. Children aged 0-3 are particularly vulnerable to unpredictable chronic stress due to the critical period for brain development and attachment. Trauma-sensitive care is a preventative approach to reduce the burden of stressful experiences by committing to positive relationships.

The Development of a Screening Tool for Childcare Professionals to Detect and Refer Infant and Toddler Maltreatment and Trauma: A Tale of Four Countries.

Unlabelled: Child maltreatment is considered a pressing social question, compromising the present and future mental and physical health of one in four children in Europe. While children younger than three years of age are especially vulnerable, few screening instruments are available for the detection of risk in this age group. The purpose of this research was to develop a screening tool for childcare professionals working in public and private daycare settings to support them in the early identification and referral of infants and toddlers exposed to emotional and physical abuse and neglect by primary caregivers, to be used in different settings across four European countries: Belgium, Italy, Latvia, and Hungary.