Treating Toxic Stress in Pediatric Clinical Practice
A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Pediatric Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 March 2026 | Viewed by 43
Special Issue Editors
2. UCLA-UCSF ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network (UCAAN), Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
3. The Center for Youth Wellness, a Program of Safe & Sound, San Francisco, CA 94124, USA
Interests: stress; adverse childhood Experiences; trauma-informed care; integrative medicine; lifestyle medicine; precision medicine; translational research; addressing health issues resulting from child abuse and toxic stress; promoting multidisciplinary; patient-centered clinical care
Interests: adversity; childhood trauma; toxic stress physiology and amelioration; trauma-informed care approaches; emotional regulation and parent–child co-regulation; stress; resilience; trauma-informed systems; life course health; well-being; reducing stigma and bias; health equity; reducing health disparities; gender norms and health; media and mental health
Interests: stress; adversity; childhood trauma; impact of toxic stress on nervous system development; nervous system dysregulation in children and adolescents; autonomic nervous system function and heart rate variability (HRV); somatic symptoms and functional neurological disorders; trauma-sensitive approaches in patient care and medical education; integrative and mind–body therapies; resilience; emotional regulation and parent–child co-regulation
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are witnessing dramatic increases in mental health concerns and chronic health conditions—including obesity, diabetes, and liver disease—appearing at ever younger ages. A growing body of research highlights stress biology as a central, underlying contributor. At the same time, stress biology offers tremendous opportunities, including new insights into how we can better understand and treat toxic stress, with the potential to profoundly improve both mental and physical health outcomes.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine define toxic stress as the “prolonged activation of the stress response systems that can disrupt the development of brain architecture and other organ systems, and increase the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment well into the adult years.”
This Special Issue is dedicated to exploring innovative interventions and treatments for toxic stress. We are particularly interested in multidisciplinary approaches that translate recent scientific breakthroughs into clinical practice. Our goal is to showcase integrative approaches—including psychosocial programs, medications and supplements, and lifestyle medicine strategies—that demonstrate measurable improvements at the physiological or neurobiological level.
We welcome original research, systematic and narrative reviews, and clinical studies on emerging biomarkers, novel interventions, and longitudinal outcomes. Studies highlighting therapeutic interventions and improvements in stress-related biomarkers, wearable technology data, or neurophysiological mechanisms are especially encouraged.
Together, we can expand the current evidence base and accelerate the translation of science into practice, helping to reduce the burden of toxic stress and foster resilience across the lifespan.
We look forward to your contributions.
Kind regards,
Dr. Rachel Gilgoff
Guest Editor
Dr. Devika Bhushan
Dr. Jorina M. Elbers
Co-Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- toxic stress
- adverse childhood experiences
- neurobiology
- physiology
- biomarkers
- wearable technology
- interventions
- psychosocial programs
- medications and supplements
- lifestyle medicine
- chronic stress
- stress
- stress biology
- resilience
- adversity
- trauma
- immunology
- metabolism
- endocrinology
- post-traumatic growth
- recovery
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