Three Concepts in Early Development: Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development

Learning how to cope with adversity is an important part of healthy development. While moderate, short-lived amounts of stress can be beneficial for healthy growth and development, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system without support from a protective adult.

Without caring adults to buffer children, the unrelenting stress caused by extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal depression can weaken the architecture of the developing brain, with long-term consequences for learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health.

This video is Part III of a three-part series titled "Three Core Concepts in Early Development" from Harvard's Center on the Developing Child and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Healthy development in the early years provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation.