Trauma is linked with adverse experiences early in life
Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that are experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.25
There are 10 categories of adversity during the first 18 years of life:23
- Abuse: physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
- Neglect: physical and emotional neglect
- Household dysfunction: parental incarceration, mental illness, substance use, parental separation or divorce, and intimate partner violence.
Trauma-informed practice can mitigate the negative effects of trauma on children’s development
Trauma can have serious consequences for the normal development of children’s brains, brain chemistry, and the nervous system. Trauma-induced alterations in biological stress systems can adversely affect brain development, cognitive and academic skills, and language acquisition. Traumatized children and adolescents display changes in the levels of stress hormones similar to those seen in combat veterans.26
Trauma-informed practice is an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma.27 When providers use a trauma-informed approach to care, they pay attention to children’s life experiences and assess the impact on physical and psychological well-being.26