Separation from parents removes children’s most important protection and generates a new trauma, Stanford scholar says

Stanford psychologist Ian H. Gotlib discusses the psychological effects of early-life stress and parental separation. Gotlib’s research has shown that children need their parents for their own emotional well-being.

By Melissa De Witte

In recent months, more than 2,000 migrant children have been separated from their families at the United States/Mexico border. Questions about the policy, including how it affects the children’s well-being, has led to a suspension of the practice.

For these children, family separation is an additional trauma to an already adverse experience in their home environments and a long, difficult journey to the Unied States, according to Stanford psychology Professor Ian H. Gotlib. Even after families are reunited, the uncertainty surrounding these parents’ lives could exacerbate feelings of anguish, despair, guilt, blame and depression – negative emotions that disrupt how they learn life skills.

Gotlib’s research shows that early life stress is a significant risk factor for depression and suicidal behaviors. His work has also examined how early life stress affects brain development. His research has also looked at treatments of depression and how to reduce young children’s risk of developing depression.

Gotlib is the David Starr Jordan Professor in the Department of Psychology in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. He is a member of Stanford Bio-X, the Child Health Research Institute and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. He is also the director of the Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect and Psychopathology Laboratory.

Stanford News Service talked with Gotlib about the impact of early life stress on children’s psychological well-being.