Adolescent Development Resources

Colorado

The Busy Caregiver's Toolkit; for Helping Youth & Young Adults" - Online Soon!

Compiled by Bob Coulson, Colorado Department of Human Services, Colorado specific resources for youth. An excellent resource!

 National

National Child Traumatic Stress Network Empirically Supported Treatments and Promising Practices

These fact sheets were developed as part of the NCTSN Trauma-Informed Interventions: Clinical and Research Evidence and Culture-Specific Information Project, a joint venture undertaken by the NCTSN and the National Crime VictimsResearch and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. This project aims to evaluate the extent towhich clinical and research evidence exists to support the use of trauma-informed treatment interventions with diverse cultural groups (as defined by such factors as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, spirituality, disability,and geography).

The fact sheets show evidence-based clinical treatment and trauma informed service provision models. Each fact sheet is in an outline format with specifics and is accompanied by Culture-Specific information.

Child Trends

Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that studies children at all stages of development.  It seeks to improve the lives of children and youth by conducting high-quality research and sharing it with the people and institutions whose decisions and actions affect children. Review the What Works Fact Sheets.  Some good examples are:

• What Works to Prevent or Reduce Internalizing Problems or Social-Emotional Difficulties in Adolescents: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Social Interventions
• Assessing Self-Regulation: A Guide for Out-Of-School Time Program Practitioners
• Practices to Avoid in Out-Of-School Time Programs
• What Works for Latino/Hispanic Children And Adolescents:  Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions
• What Works for African American Children And Adolescents:  Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions

Articles on the Effects of Child Maltreatment 

The Impact of Maltreatment on the Developing Child

Childhood, from infancy to adolescence, is a time of enormous neurological growth and development. Child maltreatment—including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse;neglect; and exposure to domestic violence—represents an extreme traumatic insult to the developing child. Specifically, maltreatment results in disruption of the bond between child and caregiver, and it causes upregulation of the biological stress response system. Chronic traumatic exposure may then lead to persistent changes in brain structure and chemistry.  Current research suggests that these biological alterations contribute to longterm physical, emotional, behavioral, developmental, social, and cognitive dysfunction seen in adults who have experienced childhood maltreatment. As described by DeBellis, the psychobiological sequelae of child maltreatment may be regarded as an environmentally induced, complex developmental disorder.

The Impact of Trauma on Child Development

ABSTRACT
A growing body of research links childhood experiences of abuse and neglect with serious life-long problems including depression, suicide, alcoholism and drug abuse, and major medical problems such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Two basic processes, neurodevelopment and psychosocial development, are affected by early abuse and neglect. Scientists have begun to understand the mechanisms through which these adverse experiences alter child development and produce pernicious mental, medical, and social outcomes. These insights have opened opportunities to intervene to prevent maltreatment and to mitigate its effects. Future success depends on the greater dissemination and refinement of these interventions.