Studies show that babies can recall traumatic events, particularly those that occur during the first year of life. While they may not remember the exact details of what happened, they can retain a feeling of the experience, shaping their behavior and responses later.
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.
Most scientists agree that memories from infancy and early childhood—under the age of two or three—are unlikely to be remembered. Research shows that many adults who remember being sexually abused as children experienced a period when they did not remember the abuse.
Trauma can have a serious effect on babies and toddlers. 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.
During this period of innocence, however, researchers have discovered that traumatic experiences such as abuse and neglect are quite common. Kids who experience childhood trauma may not remember such negative experiences from a young age, but a new documentary called Resilience reveals that their bodies do.
Help Infants and Toddlers "Remember"
Very few of us remember things that happened before we were four or five years old. So though he may have one or two vague and fleeting memories from this time period, it is unlikely the bereaved infant or toddler will clearly remember the person who died.
I spoke with Los Angeles-based therapist and psychologist Sherrie Campbell who told me the truth. “Toddlers are probably even more aware when their parents are fighting than older children because toddlers haven't built up any defenses to conflict yet,” she says.
The signs of trauma in a child include obsession with death or safety and issues with sleeping, eating, attention, and regulating emotions.
In these studies, almost all researchers concluded toddlers are able to retain memories several months and perhaps years after an event occurred. Because they are so small, their brains are still developing but such studies have proven that they are capable of having a strong memory.
Kids can remember events before the age of 3 when they're small, but by the time they're a bit older, those early autobiographical memories are lost. New research has put the starting point for amnesia at age 7.
Some of the most common signs of childhood trauma are: fear, including fear when being separated from a parent. frequent crying or tearfulness. regressive behavior, or returning to an earlier stage of development — also a sign of stress.
There are many reasons kids are forgetful, including stress and lack of sleep. Being hungry can also have a big impact. But sometimes when kids have trouble remembering information, they may be struggling with a skill called working memory.
Types of Traumatic Events
Childhood traumatic stress occurs when violent or dangerous events overwhelm a child's or adolescent's ability to cope. Traumatic events may include: Neglect and psychological, physical, or sexual abuse. Natural disasters, terrorism, and community and school violence.
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).
Family is almost certainly the most important factor in child development. In early childhood especially, parents are the ones who spend the most time with their children and we (sometimes unwittingly) influence the way they act and think and behave.
Post-traumatic play is characterized by repetition, containing aspects, scenes, or sequences of the traumatic event either explicitly expressed or symbolically represented.
Some research suggests that children as young as six months register their parents' distress. Studies that follow children over a long period of time show that children who were insecure in kindergarten because of their parents' conflicts were more likely to have adjustment problems in the seventh grade.
Just as your four-year-old will not remember that wonderful visit you had at Grandma's house, they also will not remember the time you were so frustrated, stressed, or sleep deprived that you screamed at them.
Fighting undermines kids' sense of security about the stability of the family. Children exposed to a lot of fighting may worry about divorce or wonder when one parent's silent treatment is going to end. It can make it difficult for them to have a sense of normalcy in the family since fights may be unpredictable.
Emotional symptoms can range from depression, hypervigilance, anxiety, fear, anger, feelings of abandonment, and grief – and many others. One of the lasting effects of emotional responses to trauma is negative self-beliefs, or what we call “stuck points”.
If the trauma is left untreated, one can experience nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, depression, phobias, substance abuse, panic attacks, anger, irritability, or hopelessness.
Traumatic reactions can include a variety of responses, such as intense and ongoing emotional upset, depressive symptoms or anxiety, behavioral changes, difficulties with self-regulation, problems relating to others or forming attachments, regression or loss of previously acquired skills, attention and academic ...