PBS NewsHour Series “Invisible scars: America’s childhood trauma crisis” to Examine the Effects of Childhood Trauma

ARLINGTON, VA (December 14, 2020) — PBS NewsHour will air “Invisible scars: America’s childhood trauma crisis,” a four-part series examining the effects of childhood adversity. Special correspondent Cat Wise offers an in-depth look at how childhood trauma impacts our society and the overall health of individuals.

The devastating and long-term consequences of childhood trauma are expected to be more pressing with a year that’s seen unprecedented disruption – a global pandemic, economic collapse and racial unrest. People with a significant history of childhood adversity are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease, cancer, stroke and severe obesity. The series will explore how racial and socioeconomic issues magnify the health crisis and the importance of using treatment to overcome childhood trauma. Reports include interviews with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia and survivors directly affected by adverse childhood experiences.

Part One
Americans of all ages, genders, races and socioeconomic backgrounds experience childhood trauma. Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris explains how childhood adversity affects health across a lifetime and why these experiences lead to negative outcomes, including behavioral health issues as well as heart disease and stroke.

Part Two
Montana’s isolated, rural communities and Native American reservations suffer from a host of substance abuse issues that go untreated behind closed doors, including domestic violence and depression. An ingrained stigma against acknowledging mental health and addiction problems or seeking treatment for these issues means Montana has one of the highest suicide rates in the country and the fourth-highest among adolescents. Wise looks at the impact of untreated, generational trauma in rural towns and reservations and how access to treatment and behavioral therapy can improve the lives of future generations.

Part Three
The city of Chicago exhibits the uneven effects of childhood trauma in the United States. Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by gun violence, disinvestment, parental incarceration, underfunded schools and poor access to health care – all factors that can cause and exacerbate childhood trauma. In addition to experts and community leaders, we speak to three teens who have grown up on Chicago’s west side, one of the city’s poorest and most violent areas.

Part Four
So how do we treat childhood trauma? And how has the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult for children to access treatment? Wise reports on methods to treat childhood trauma starting at infancy, in schools and even through adulthood. And she looks at how clinicians are overcoming the new barriers the pandemic has put in place.

Senior producer Emily Carpeaux; producers Jaywon Choe, Leah Nagy, Sam Lane and Rachel Wellford; and Cat Wise contributed to reporting for this special series.

Coverage will extend to NewsHour’s digital and social platforms.

Media contact: Sydney Cameron, Publicist, scameron@newshour.org