Integrating child and adolescent psychiatry and the field of early childhood development

Excerpt

Accelerated processes of brain development and maturation occur during the first years of life and lead to the initial structuring of cognitive and emotional functions. Due to the intense brain plasticity at this time of life, environmental stimuli can direct substantial changes in functioning and also in the structure of the developing brain, in a positive or negative way [1]. In fact, clinical and epidemiological evidence indicates that the origins of educational, social and economic inequalities and chronic diseases, including mental disorders, go back to the first years of life [2]. Despite the relevance of the first years of life for the success of families, communities and nations is very well established, it is estimated that in 2017, there were approximately 150 million stunted children under 5 globally [3]. Children are also disproportionately represented among the extreme poor, representing 46% of the population living on less than US$1.90 per day around the world [4]. Poverty and malnutrition, as well as exposure to family and community stress and violence, negligence, abuse and maltreatment, restricted access to learning experiences and to health care, are important barriers to full development and are associated to various life-long negative health, educational and social outcomes [5] generating an unfavorable economic impact on the development of nations [6]. …