While the negative effects of early‐life stress on children's developmental outcomes are well documented, we know little about how these processes unfold and which children are more susceptible to these exposures. In this article, I outline how studying the effects of early‐life stress on children's development can be advanced by considering how epigenetic processes may contribute to the emergence of children's behavior. The study of epigenetics can help pinpoint the mechanisms by which early‐life stress may affect developmental outcomes and identify which children may be most sensitive to the effects of these exposures. I conclude by highlighting the challenges inherent in studying epigenetics in children and offer possible solutions.

中文翻译：

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利用行为表观遗传学原理进行早期生活压力研究。

尽管有充分的证据证明了早期生活压力对儿童发育结果的负面影响，但我们对这些过程如何展开以及哪些儿童更容易受到这些暴露的了解很少。在本文中，我概述了如何通过考虑表观遗传过程如何促进儿童行为的出现来研究早期应激对儿童发育的影响。对表观遗传学的研究可以帮助查明早期应激可能影响发育结果的机制，并确定哪些儿童可能对这些暴露的影响最敏感。最后，我着重介绍了研究儿童表观遗传学所固有的挑战，并提供了可能的解决方案。