Yoga is practiced by growing numbers of people in the United States3 and has demonstrated positive effects on the functioning of adults and children.4'6 Therapeutic yoga interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in children and adolescents who exhibit symptoms of inattention, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders, in both academic and treatment settings.4 Trauma in Urban Youth It is well documented that children who are exposed to trauma in childhood are at risk for developing emotional and behavioral problems, including dysregulation, posttraumatic stress, depression, low self-esteem, and aggression.

"The current study tested the degree to which mindfulness in parents was directly and indirectly related to stress levels in children. A community sample of 68 parent-child dyads completed self-report surveys (Children: M_age = 10.70, SD = 2.6; 52% female, 48% male; Parents: M_age = 42.70, SD = 9.6; 72% female, 28% male). Multiple regression analyses revealed that both parent mindfulness and child mindfulness were significantly and negatively related to child stress levels. However, mindfulness in children did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness in parents and stress in children. This study contributes to the emerging literature on the effects of mindful parenting on child wellbeing and provides practical suggestions for how parents and children can increase their mindfulness."

"Exposure to adversity in childhood, including domestic violence, parental mental illness, loss, and poverty, is a known risk factor for long-term physical and mental health problems. This secondary data analysis uses the National Survey of Children’s Health 2011/12 to examine the association between exposure to family adversity and academic outcomes, as mediated by child mental health. The analytic sample included 65,680 children between the ages of six and 17, representative of the US child population. Family adversity, as mediated by child mental health status, was negatively associated with school engagement and positively associated with being retained in grade and being on an Individualized Education Program. Male gender, family economic hardship, living in an unsafe neighborhood, and poor caregiver mental health were additional risk factors. Results suggest the need for improved mental health screening for students who exhibit internalizing and externalizing symptoms."

"Studies regarding the impact of trauma on children and their families who experience “indirect” trauma (meaning that they are not the ones going through the medical procedure) have clearly established the negative effects on the physical and mental recovery of the whole family. Pediatric medical traumatic stress is a set of psychological and physiological responses of children and their families to pain, injury, serious illness, medical procedures, and invasive or frightening treatment experiences."

"Australian researchers found the greater number of traumatic events a child had experienced, the higher the hair cortisol concentrations"

"Objective: To determine if separation from a father is associated with short-term changes in mental health or substance use in adolescents."

"Only in the past two decades has depression in children been taken seriously. Now, it’s becoming clear that kids as young as three can have major depression."

"An international survey has found a gap in knowledge of hospital emergency staff when dealing with child traumatic stress and providing emotional support to children admitted to hospital after injury."

"Victims of childhood sexual abuse are far more likely to become obese adults. New research shows that early trauma is so damaging that it can disrupt a person’s entire psychology and metabolism."

"If a mom who was maltreated as a child can sustain some strong beliefs in her competency as a mom, then it may help break the cycle of abuse and buffer her children against that kind of experience she had. That is where this research has led us so far."

Podcast: Stories about New Orleans ten years after Hurricane Katrina have prompted Vermonters to also reflect on the four years since Tropical Storm Irene; both anniversaries are this weekend. A disaster sociologist says that social and economic advantages are the strongest indicators of how a child will do in recovering from a disaster, rather personality or character traits.

Thousands of residents, and especially children, were traumatized by the storm and the displacement and struggle that followed.

Involvement in bullying in adolescence is associated with later mental health problems, possibly hindering development into independent adulthood.

Girls as young as 12 are seeking help from domestic violence support services, amid warnings from workers that abuse and violent sex are becoming increasingly common among teenagers.