Understanding the context

In early childhood, health and wellbeing contexts comprise multiple factors affecting children’s physical, emotional, and psychological development. They include such issues as parental mental illness, substance abuse, trauma, grief, and abuse. An estimated one in five Australians are affected with mental health conditions each year (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2022). These conditions have a significant impact on family functioning and, therefore, on the children's wellbeing. Furthermore, exposure to family violence, neglect, or substance abuse may lead to developmental consequences in the long term (Campo, 2015).

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) describes wellbeing as a state that is complete in terms of mental, emotional, and social health rather than a mere absence of disease. Bronfenbrenner (1979), through ecological systems theory, shows that in the case of children, health and wellbeing result from interaction with systems at the family, community, and societal level, whereas attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) stresses the need for secure relationships as the basis for healthy emotional development.

Resilience in children is defined as the ability of a child to successfully adjust despite adversity, and it is closely connected with protective factors like positive relationships with caregivers, safe environments, and access to early intervention services (Masten, 2014). Teachers must consider all these contexts when identifying accumulating signs of distress, provide appropriate environments, and link families to suitable services.