ch #12 trauma disorders lecture notes Flashcards
What are some characteristics of stressful events?
-more common
-less extreme
-leaf to a change in psychological/behavioural/physiological response
-can be positive/negative
-can become toxic
-short and manageable stress can enhance a childs biological and psychological competence
what are some characteristics of traumatic events?
-exposure to actual or threatened harm or fear of death
-uncommon and extreme stressor
-lead to intense emotional response
-lead to intense emotional response
-child maltreatment is one of the main causes of trauma in children
What is adverse childhood experiences?
Traumatizing events that occur during childhood and adolescence.
-they are normally grouped in 3 categories: abuse, neglect, household dysfunction
Risk factors in the socioecological model
Risk factors: increase the likelihood that a child will experience maltreatment
Individual level: younger age (highest rate for children younger than 1), having special needs
Interpersonal level: poverty, parental mental health problems, parental substance use disorders, intimate partner violence
community level: neighbourhood crime, concentrated disadvantage (poverty, unemployment, and housing foreclosure and vacancy) these factors also increase parental stress
societal level: gender inequality, regressive taxes (weigh more heavily on low-income earners)
Protective factors socioecological model
Protective factors: decrease the likelihood that a child will experience maltreatment
Individual level: self regulation skills, social competence, adaptive functioning, self esteem and resilience are factors that promote positive outcomes in children who have experiences traumatic experiences
Interpersonal level: caregiver social support can boot caregivers wellbeing and decrease stress
community level: neighbourhood availability of services for parents, social cohesion (trust within the neighbourhood), social control (preparedness and willingness to intervene in case of need)
Societal level: policies that have the goal of reducing the burden of common child-related expenses, policies aimed at increasing overall household income among families with young children
How does the study of Fereidooni and colleagues (2023) explain the link between childhood maltreatment and childhood victimization?
CM leads to—>cognitive factors (thoughts about self and others, attachment) which leads to —> emotional disturbances which leads to —> maladaptive coping which leads to —> AV
What can explain the association between childhood trauma and the engagement in risk taking behaviour later in life?
-adoption of health risk behaviours
-coping mechanism to deal with the abuse
-dysfunctional bio and neuro mechanisms consequences of chronic stress
-genetic increased susceptibility
Prevalence of PTSD
- up to 66% of children younger than 16 experience at least one traumatic event
-based on US statistics, about 5% of children develop PTSD (greater prevalence in girls and more common in teens)
-when trauma occurs in early childhood the severity of the symptoms is much greater
How trauma is experienced depends on a number of factors:
(Causes of PTSD)
How trauma is experienced depends on a number of factors:
-the Childs developmental level of pre-disaster characteristics
-cognitive appraisal of the threat and coping style
-characteristics of the disaster or traumatic experience
-the childs efforts to integrate a traumatic event into their existing cognitive view of the world
PTSD causes–Emotion regulation
maltreated infants/toddlers have difficulty establishing reciprocal, consistent interaction with caregivers
-exhibit insecure-disorganized attachment
-have difficulty understanding, labeling and regulating internal emotional states
-learn to inhibit emotional expression and regulation, remaining more fearful and on alert.
-pay more attention to anger and threat related signals (angry facial expressions)
-problems with emotions can manifest as sadness/depression or anger
Maltreated children’s emerging views of self and their surroundings are not fostered by healthy parental guidance and control:
-negative representational models of self and others develop based on a sense of inner “badness”, “self-blame, shame or rage”–>they lack core positive beliefs about self and the world
-common feeling of betrayal
-the sense of personal power or self effiicacy can be undermined by significant trauma, stress or maltreatment
-as a consequence, emotional and behavioural problems are likely to appear
Neurobiological changes (causes of PTSD)
children and adults with a history of child abuse:
-long-term alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and norepinephrine systems
-affected brain areas include the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and amygdala
-the neuroendocrine system becomes highly sensitive to stress
Leads to neurobiological changes that may account for later psychiatric problems
