Lecture week 1

Question 1

Name a few reasons why it is important to have emotional interactions with your caretaker for later development.

Answer 1

to form attachment, estabish sense of safety and security, learn to regulate own emotions, understand emotional states of others, learn to trust others and learn empathy

Question 2

Define childhood maltreatment

Answer 2

Any act of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Harm does not need to be intended.

Question 3

Define omission

Answer 3

The failure to meet a child’s needs.

This is among others physical neglect, emotional neglect and denial of access to education.

Question 4

Define comission

Answer 4

Actively doing something harmful.
This is, among others, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, shaken baby syndrome and intimate-partner violence.

Question 5

Define emotional neglect

Answer 5

Failure to meet a child’s emotional needs and failure to protect a child from violence in the home or neighbourhood

Question 6

Define physical neglect

Answer 6

Failure to meet a child’s basic physical, medical/dental, or educational needs; failure to provide adequate nutrition, hygiene, or shelter

Question 7

Define emotional abuse

Answer 7

Intentional behaviour that conveys to a child that he/she is worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or valued only in meeting another’s needs

Question 8

Define physical abuse

Answer 8

Intentional use of physical force or implements against a child that results in, or has the potential to result in, physical injury

Question 9

Define sexual abuse

Answer 9

Any completed or attempted sexual act, sexual contact, or non-contact sexual interaction with a child by a caregiver

Question 10

What is the prevalence of the different types of maltreatment?

Answer 10

23% of all children have suffered from physical abuse
36% of all children have suffered from emotional abuse
16% of all children have suffered from physical neglect
26% of all children (18% girls, 8% boys) have suffered from sexual abuse

Question 11

What types of abuse are the most frequent?

Answer 11

Emotional and physical abuse

Question 12

What are a few indicators for increase in domestic violence in times of Corona?

Answer 12

Increased stress amongst parents, less social support and the abuse stays hidden more easily

Question 13

Name a few psychological concequences of child abuse and neglect

Answer 13

internalizing and externalizing disorders, personality disorders, psychotic symptoms, suicide and self-injury

Question 14

Define comorbidity and what can it also be referred to as?

Answer 14

To have two or more disorders at the same time. It can also be referred to as co-occurrence. For example, approximately 50% of children are exposed to more than one form of abuse or neglect.

Question 15

True or False: The odds ratio, the chance of having experienced maltreatment in the groups of any disorder, is much higher compared to children who have never experienced maltreatment.

Answer 15

True

Highest for emotional neglect

Question 16

Name a few underlying psychological processes related to childhood abuse and neglect.
(multiple potential mechanisms by which maltreatment increases risk for psychopathology)

Answer 16

Cognitive schemata of self and others, emotion regulation style, (in)secure attachment, hypervigilance to threat, low responsiveness to reward and neurobiological models

Question 17

What is the cognitive schemata of self and others and how does abuse influence it?

Answer 17

how do you see the world and how do you see your own place in the world. If you see everything through depressed glasses, you interpret the world in a negative way because you have learned from childhood that negative things happen (to you).

Question 18

How does abuse influence emotion regulation styles?

Answer 18

Your stress system might be over reactive or you are not able to regulate the stressor when you have suffered from childhood maltreatment because you have never learned how to regulate stress. You can develop problems with the recognition and understanding of emotions and coping with emotions. This can lead to problems with : social interactions, rejection, stress and impulse control

Question 19

How does abuse influence (in)secure attachment?

Answer 19

Emotional neglect is a big risk factor. Attachment to abusing parents occurs, but is characterized by unsafety. When biological parents are not available, children can still securely attach to another person. Can influence attachment in later relationships.
There are three types of attachment styles: secure, avoidant and anxious/ambivalent. These can impact social interactions. When these interactions are not healthy as an adult, these can cause psychological problems.

Question 20

How does abuse influence hypervigilance to threat?

Answer 20

Children who have been abused have heightened attention to angry faces, have hostile attributions to ambivalent stimuli (the role of the amygdala). This may lead to: Anxiety disorders (internalizing), Aggressive reactions (externalizing) and avoidance

Question 21

How does abuse influence low responsiveness to reward?

Answer 21

Children that have been maltreated in childhood have a reduced response to reward. This is very relevant during adolescence, it helps you to learn from peers and be self-confident in the environment. Goal-directed behavior is motivated and reinforced. The dopamine system (striatum) is linked to this behavior. If your reward system is not sensitive, it might be a cause for depression. If you need more rewards, it might lead to substance abuse.

Question 22

Name one example of an internal factor and an external factor of resilience.

Answer 22

Internal factor: intelligence or more adapted stress system

External factor: a good social support system or an attachment bond with another person