3.3 Effects of childhood trauma on behavioural, social and emotional functioning
3.3 Effects of childhood trauma on behavioural, social and emotional functioning
The changes in brain structure and chemical activity caused by childhood trauma can have a wide variety of effects on children’s behavioural, social, and emotional functioning.
Persistent fear response
Chronic stress or repeated trauma can result in a number of biological reactions, including a persistent fear state (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010). Chronic activation of the neuronal pathways involved in the fear response can create permanent memories that shape the child’s perception of and response to the environment. While this adaptation may be necessary for survival in a hostile world, it can become a way of life that is difficult to change, even if the environment improves.
Children with a persistent fear response may lose their ability to differentiate between danger and safety, and they may identify a threat in a non-threatening situation (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010). For example, a child who has been maltreated may associate the fear caused by a specific person or place with similar people or places that pose no threat. This generalised fear response may be the foundation of future anxiety disorders, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)(National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010).
Hyperarousal
When children are exposed to chronic, traumatic stress, their brains sensitise the pathways for the fear response and create memories that automatically trigger that response without conscious thought. This is called hyperarousal. These children may be highly sensitive to nonverbal cues, such as eye contact or a touch on the arm, and they may be more likely to misinterpret them (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010). Consumed with a need to monitor nonverbal cues for threats, their brains are less able to interpret and respond to verbal cues, even when they are in an environment typically considered non-threatening, like a classroom. While these children are often labelled as learning disabled, the reality is that their brains have developed so that they are constantly on alert and are unable to achieve the relative calm necessary for learning (Child Trauma Academy, n.d.).
Increased Internalising Symptoms
Childhood trauma can lead to structural and chemical changes in the areas of the brain involved in emotion and stress regulation (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010). For example, childhood trauma can affect connectivity between the amygdala and hippocampus, which can then initiate the development of anxiety and depression by late adolescence (Herringa et al., 2013). Additionally, early emotional abuse or severe deprivation may permanently alter the brain’s ability to use serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps produce feelings of wellbeing and emotional stability (Healy, 2004).
Diminished Executive Functioning
Executive functioning generally