Adverse Childhood Experiences
Young Trauma Survivors
Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events that occur in a youth’s formative years, and include emotional, physical and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and household dysfunction such as living in a home with violence, parental separation or divorce, and having family members with alcohol and substance misuse, mental illness or incarceration.
These adverse childhood experiences may result in complex trauma, and the affected youths have severe and persistent difficulties managing their behavioural or emotional responses to trauma reminders, despite support from the community. They may resort to negative coping mechanisms such as self-harm, avoidance, substance abuse or aggressive behaviour, affecting their safety and well-being.
The adverse experiences that young trauma survivors have faced in their formative years have a life-long impact on their development, including reduced social skills, poor school performance and mental health issues.
Multi-Stresses from Solo Caregiving
Single-Parent Families
There are a variety of circumstances that result in single-parent families, including divorce or separation; death of a partner; incarceration or deportation; and unwed mothers. Single parents are often overburdened as they shoulder the income-earning and care-giving responsibilities of two parents, face social stigma and lack social support in caring for their children.
Low-income single parents often prioritise understanding from management and workplace flexibility, so that they can balance employment and childcare. The added stresses of financial pressure and time poverty can often result in a scarcity mindset and tunnel vision, with immediate needs such as paying the bills and putting food on the table crowding out thoughts of spending quality time with their children, finding and making sense of the assistance available to them, upgrading their skills and qualifications for a higher income or saving up to buy their own HDB flats.
Single parents may also lack a supportive social network, and face a lack of understanding on their circumstances and needs from those closest to them. Their social isolation may be compounded by a feeling of embarrassment, aggravated by social stigma, which result in single parents trying to make do by themselves rather than reach out for support.