Senehi Neda, Meyer Aleta, Webb Mary Bruce, Parikshak Sangeeta, Blandon Alysia
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC, 20201, USA.
Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC, 20201, USA.
Prev Sci. 2025 Mar;26(Suppl 1):1-17. doi: 10.1007/s11121-025-01801-2. Epub 2025 Apr 26.
This paper introduces the special issue of Prevention Science titled Applied Prevention Science to Inform Parenting Enhancements to Early Head Start that Promote Supportive Parent-Child Interactions and Buffer the Detrimental Effects of Early Adversity. We provide an integrative overview of the Early Head Start-University Partnerships Buffering Toxic Stress (BTS) consortium, funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), summarizing key findings from six studies and reflecting on their implications in light of recent ACF and Office of Head Start (OHS) policies and regulations. Programs such as Early Head Start (EHS), which integrate parenting support and skill-building, have demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing parental competencies, reducing stress, and improving child outcomes. However, intervention effects remain modest and vary significantly by factors such as race and ethnicity, demographic risk, and family characteristics. This variability underscores the need for tailored, culturally responsive approaches that validate and refine frameworks for understanding parental and social buffering of children's toxic stress response. Findings from the BTS studies highlight promising program impacts, especially for families facing heightened risk, such as those with maternal histories of adverse childhood experiences or ongoing mental health challenges. This synthesis reinforces the importance of precision-based, contextually responsive interventions and aligns with recent ACF and OHS regulations aimed at developing scalable, cost-effective models that meet the unique needs of families experiencing adversity. Beyond EHS, we hope this special issue advances the field of applied prevention science by informing the development of tailored, effective, and sustainable programming for children and families navigating early adversity.
本文介绍了《预防科学》的特刊，主题为“应用预防科学为早期开端计划中的育儿改善提供信息，以促进支持性的亲子互动并缓冲早期逆境的有害影响”。我们对由儿童与家庭管理局（ACF）资助的早期开端计划 - 大学合作缓冲毒性应激（BTS）联盟进行了综合概述，总结了六项研究的主要发现，并根据ACF和开端计划办公室（OHS）最近的政策和法规对其影响进行了反思。诸如早期开端计划（EHS）之类的项目，将育儿支持和技能培养相结合，已证明在提高父母能力、减轻压力和改善儿童结局方面具有成效。然而，干预效果仍然有限，并且因种族和族裔、人口风险和家庭特征等因素而有显著差异。这种变异性凸显了需要采用量身定制的、具有文化适应性的方法，以验证和完善理解父母及社会对儿童毒性应激反应的缓冲作用的框架。BTS研究的结果突出了有前景的项目影响，特别是对于面临更高风险的家庭，例如那些母亲有童年不良经历或持续存在心理健康问题的家庭。这一综述强化了基于精准、因地制宜的干预措施的重要性，并与ACF和OHS最近的法规相一致，这些法规旨在开发可扩展、具有成本效益的模式，以满足经历逆境的家庭的独特需求。除了EHS之外，我们希望本期特刊通过为应对早期逆境的儿童和家庭制定量身定制、有效且可持续的项目提供信息，推动应用预防科学领域的发展。
