Breaking the Cycle of Toxic Stress: A New Ad

Toxic stress affects 1 in 3 children in California and can have long-lasting consequences on their physical and emotional health. Parents and caregivers who are facing toxic stress from their own childhood trauma may have a hard time overcoming the challenges they experienced when raising children. That's why First 5 California, in partnership with Rescue Agency, created the Stronger Starts campaign to raise awareness about toxic stress and help caregivers break the cycle.

In our new commercial, we showcase how parents can overcome the challenges of their own childhood, provide safety and security to their children, and break the cycle of toxic stress in their families. By creating a nurturing environment and offering emotional support, caregivers can increase their children's overall well-being and set them up for success.

The early results of post-campaign evaluations have revealed significant behavior change among those who are campaign-aware, including:

• 92% were motivated to learn more about toxic stress in themselves.
• 84% of participants who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) agreed that they learned actions they can take to help themselves overcome toxic stress.
• 77% reported knowing what actions they can take to help their children overcome toxic stress, a significant increase from baseline and mid-campaign evaluations.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team if you’d like to learn more about how to educate caregivers in your community about toxic stress and how to end the cycle of trauma.