Researchers at Stanford University found that how a child speaks about stressful or difficult events is more predictive of future mental health risks than the content of what they say.
Exposure to early life stress is a major public health challenge, accounting for up to one-third of adult psychiatric diagnoses worldwide, the authors noted, adding that there is a lack of tools to identify who is most vulnerable.
“This study provides a robust proof of concept for the development of scalable tools that identify markers of risk before individuals are diagnosed,” said Chase Antonacci, the study’s lead author at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences.
Adolescence is when depression and anxiety most often emerge, and once these disorders take hold, they are notoriously difficult to treat, Antonacci noted.
The authors noted that not every child who experiences adverse events in early life will develop mental and behavioural disorders, and many may even show resilience.
