As championed by the work of Ed Zigler, investing in nurturing environments for all children is a chief tenet of primary prevention that will have far-reaching benefits to the health and welfare of all members of society. Children who endure child maltreatment (CM) are among society's most vulnerable. Prospective longitudinal research aimed at a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms linking CM to subsequent adverse health consequences is needed to improve outcomes and to strengthen causal inference. This paper outlines the methods of the Child Health Study (CHS), a large, state-wide longitudinal cohort of recently maltreated and nonmaltreated youth aged 8–13 who will be assessed every 2 years. The CHS is designed to include in-depth assessments of multiple environmental, behavioral, neural, physiological, and molecular mechanisms through which CM may impact a broad spectrum of youth development, including behavioral and physical health outcomes. In addition to describing the conceptual framework and methods underlying the CHS, we provide information on valuable “lessons learned” in the hopes of supporting future research efforts facing similar challenges. The ultimate goal of this research is demonstrating how policies regarding CM impact the well-being, resilience and recovery of survivors and that they are worthy of large public investment.

中文翻译：

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组建一个队列，对虐待儿童的生物学嵌入进行深入、纵向评估：方法、复杂性和经验教训

正如 Ed Zigler 的工作所倡导的那样，为所有儿童的培育环境投资是初级预防的主要原则，它将对社会所有成员的健康和福利产生深远的影响。遭受虐待儿童 (CM) 的儿童是社会上最脆弱的群体。需要进行旨在全面了解将 CM 与随后的不良健康后果联系起来的机制的前瞻性纵向研究，以改善结果并加强因果推理。本文概述了儿童健康研究 (CHS) 的方法，该研究是一个大型的全州纵向队列，由最近受到虐待和未受虐待的 8-13 岁青年组成，每 2 年进行一次评估。CHS 旨在包括对多种环境、行为、神经、生理、以及 CM 可能影响广泛的青年发展的分子机制，包括行为和身体健康结果。除了描述 CHS 的概念框架和方法外，我们还提供有关宝贵“经验教训”的信息，以期支持未来面临类似挑战的研究工作。这项研究的最终目标是展示有关 CM 的政策如何影响幸存者的福祉、复原力和康复，以及它们值得大量公共投资。我们提供有关宝贵“经验教训”的信息，以期支持未来面临类似挑战的研究工作。这项研究的最终目标是展示有关 CM 的政策如何影响幸存者的福祉、复原力和康复，以及它们值得大量公共投资。我们提供有关宝贵“经验教训”的信息，以期支持未来面临类似挑战的研究工作。这项研究的最终目标是展示有关 CM 的政策如何影响幸存者的福祉、复原力和康复，以及它们值得大量公共投资。