childhood adversity

Question 1

Child Maltreatment & Long-term Behavior

Answer 1

Externalizing framework
Aggressive with prioritized attention to negative cues
Belief that anger can arise anywhere…
Rewards not as effective
Rumination
Poor response to mental health Tx

Question 2

Universal Screening?

Answer 2

Ethics of screening say you need to be able to do something if you find something…
Consider potential benefits, consequences, & costs
What, exactly, would you be screening for?

Question 3

Abusive adults were sometimes abused kids…

Answer 3

Tend to be more impulsive and less consistent
Less able to explain their feelings or expectations
Externalizing
Less self-efficacy
Disregulated
May tend to focus on the negative

Question 4

Promote Resiliency:

Answer 4

Encourage Social Connections
Support Quality Sleep
Promote Positive Cognitive and Coping Strategies
Foster Self-Satisfaction (A sense of self-worth and self-efficacy)

Question 5

Has something been triggered?

Answer 5

Emotional reactions – anxiety, fear, helplessness, worry, anger, hopelessness
Physical or somatic reactions – nausea, light-headedness, increase in BP, headaches, stomach-aches, increase in heart rate and respiration or holding breath
Behavioral reactions – crying, uncooperative, argumentative, unresponsive, agitation, missed appointments, or always late
Cognitive reactions – memory impairment or forgetfulness, distractible, unable to give organized history or follow simple directions

Question 6

Trauma-Informed Care

Answer 6

A trauma-informed program, organization or system …

realizes the prevalence of trauma and taking a universal precautions position;

recognizes that trauma affects all individuals involved, including those within the workforce;

responds by putting knowledge into practice; and

resists re-traumatization

Question 7

Nurture vs Nature?

Answer 7

Mothers’ licking activity epigenetically removes the dimmer switches on stress receptors in their pup’s growing brain.

Being licked activates serotonin receptors in the hippocampus. These receptors turn on the gene that inhibits stress responses.

Adult rats who were nurtured as pups have better-developed hippocampi, release less cortisol, and are calmer.