Journeys from childhood to midlife: risk, resilience, and recovery

Abstract

The latest report from the Kauai Longitudinal Study addresses 2 fundamental questions of interest to pediatricians and health care professionals: 1) What are the long-term effects of adverse perinatal and early child-rearing conditions on individuals’ physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development at midlife? 2) Which protective factors allow most individuals who are exposed to multiple childhood risk factors to make a successful adaptation in adulthood?1 The Kauai Longitudinal Study has monitored the impact of a wide array of biological, psychological, and social risk factors on the lives of a multiracial cohort of 698 individuals who were born in 1955 on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, from the perinatal … Reprint requests to (E.E.W.) Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: eewerner{at}ucdavis.edu