War

Each year, millions of children and adults across the world experience war as it devastates their families, communities, and future developmental trajectories with severe and lasting consequences. The costs and casualties of war on life-span development are often far-reaching, sentencing entire societies to bear the burden of profound physical and psychological destruction. This entry focuses on experiences of war, including those involving armed conflict, displacement and refugee resettlement, terrorism, and recruitment as a child soldier, as they affect individuals from a life-span developmental perspective. This perspective encompasses an understanding of how war affects different developmental stages, spanning from prenatal development through adulthood, and continuing over time. Comprising this entry are key issues pertaining to vulnerability and recovery pathways as they relate to dose–response gradients, and ...