Children can experience trauma as early as infancy. In fact, young children between the ages of 0 and 5 are the most vulnerable to the effects of trauma since their brains are still in the early formative years.
Ages 5 through 8 identified as crucial period in brain development and exposure to stress.
“Basic research shows that young babies even five months old can remember that a stranger came into room and scared them three weeks before.
Traumatic events are a direct threat to a person's wellbeing. When confronted with trauma, a child may not have the ability to cope with the experience. While very young children may not remember specific events they do remember emotions, images and can be reminded of situations that cause them to be upset.
Young children suffering from traumatic stress symptoms generally have difficulty regulating their behaviors and emotions. They may be clingy and fearful of new situations, easily frightened, difficult to console, and/or aggressive and impulsive.
Traumatic experiences can initiate strong emotions and physical reactions that can persist long after the event. Children may feel terror, helplessness, or fear, as well as physiological reactions such as heart pounding, vomiting, or loss of bowel or bladder control.
Preschool age children can be seriously affected by trauma, just like older children and adults. Life-threatening events such as car accidents, bushfires, sudden illness, traumatic death in the family, crime, abuse or violence in the community can cause trauma.
A child with PTSD has constant, scary thoughts and memories of a past event. A traumatic event, such as a car crash, natural disaster, or physical abuse, can cause PTSD. Children with PTSD may relive the trauma over and over again. They may have nightmares or flashbacks.
Certain areas of the frontal lobes, responsible for making sense of social information, may be most affected by abuse between the ages of 14 to 16 (McCrory et al., 2011), implying that the brain may be malleable and benefit from targeted interventions well into adolescence.
A trigger is some aspect of a traumatic event that occurs in a completely different situation but reminds the child of the original event. Examples may be sounds, smells, feelings, places, postures, tones of voice, or even emotions.
Types of Childhood Trauma
Sexual or physical abuse. Natural disaster (hurricane, earthquake, flood) Car or plane crashes. War.
Nearly all victims of abusive head trauma suffer serious health consequences and at least one of every four babies who are violently shaken dies – babies (newborn to 4 months) are at greatest risk of injury from shaking. Inconsolable crying is a primary trigger for shaking a baby.
They found that violent or traumatic experiences led to accelerations in pubertal development, brain development, and cellular aging, while neglect and chronic poverty did not, though they can affect physical and cognitive development in other ways.
Also, traumas experienced in adulthood compared to traumas experienced in childhood appear to cause more damage to an older person's (65 and older) health, say researchers of a new study reported on in the December issue of Psychology and Aging published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Many people wrongly believe that babies do not notice or remember traumatic events. In fact, anything that affects older children and adults in a family can also affect a baby, but they may not be able to show their reactions directly, as older children can.
It's already clear that untreated PTSD can interfere with a child's normal brain development and increase the risk of other psychiatric conditions such as depression and substance abuse, Carrion concluded. "Early intervention is critical for children with post-traumatic stress," he said.
Can Children Get PTSD from Their Parents? Although not common, it is possible for children to show signs of PTSD because they are upset by their parent's symptoms. Trauma symptoms can also be passed from parent to child or between generations.
Complex trauma can often take place in the family of origin and is usually severe and ongoing. Children who have experienced complex trauma may have suffered from emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, abandonment, parental alienation, high conflict divorce, neglect and/or assault.
Trauma-induced changes to the brain can result in varying degrees of cognitive impairment and emotional dysregulation that can lead to a host of problems, including difficulty with attention and focus, learning disabilities, low self-esteem, impaired social skills, and sleep disturbances (Nemeroff, 2016).
Trauma often manifests physically as well as emotionally. Some common physical signs of trauma include paleness, lethargy, fatigue, poor concentration and a racing heartbeat. The victim may have anxiety or panic attacks and be unable to cope in certain circumstances.
It is very typical for a child who is 2 or 3 years old to start hitting or biting to express frustration or to get something they want. Toddlers have more motor control than infants, but don't yet have a lot of language to communicate what they need or want. Frustration is normal and to be expected.
Falls are the leading cause of injury among children. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that roughly 8,000 children are treated in U.S. emergency rooms for fall-related injuries every day.