Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs)
PCEs have been proven to mitigate, lessen, or buffer the harmful effects of childhood trauma (both ACEs and SHIT).
But what are PCEs, exactly? That’s what we aim to find out.
Our ideas on PCEs:
We aim to expand upon current definitions of PCEs (see below), by asking children and their caregivers to define them.
PCEs:
A Review of Existing Research
Since 2019, research on Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) has exploded. The work of two researchers in particular - Christina Bethell and Angela Narayan - have been particularly important for us. We are not the only researchers to get excited about PCEs: the US Center for Disease Control is now emphasizing PCEs as a buffer or counter to the many negative impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
While the existing research on PCEs is excellent and profound, we feel that the definitions of PCEs are limiting and limited. Researchers are looking only at a few factors, either in secondary databases or using questionnaires they develop. We think PCEs might be much, much more broad, deep, diverse, and varied. But we aren’t sure. So we’re going to ask some experts: children and their caregivers.
Positive Childhood Experiences
Adults who experienced more PCEs as children are less likely to experience depression or poor mental health and more likely to receive social and emotional support - even when they experienced a high amount of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
— Christina Bethell et al., 2019, JAMA Pediatrics