The Effects Of Childhood Trauma On Children 's Personality

A once bright and chatty child may become withdrawn and shy away from adult attention. The child maybe showing signs of aggressive behaviour and/or exhibiting signs of self harm. Abuse can affect a child from infancy through to adolescence and then into adulthood. It can set back a child's physical development, such as a tense mealtime can affect the child’s ability to eat.

It is the primary caregiver who the child first begins to develop these intra- and interpersonal processes with. Future success of social-emotional development in children, is dependent upon the “the presence of caregiver-child relationships,” and the consistent, reliable, and empathic, positive serve and return of the caregiver (Briggs, Silver, Krug, Mason, Schrag, et al, 2014). Caregivers who have experienced childhood trauma, have a decreased ability to provide this type of interaction. Therefore, a child’s social-emotional development is at risk. Due to the caregiver’s traumatic history, they may have an inability to effectively interpret a child’s emotional state, and they may inappropriately respond to a child’s attempt for interaction. This caregiver may respond by using negative parenting practices including severe physical and psychological aggression, or neglectful behaviors (Briggs et al.). Thus, through inadequate parenting techniques, caregivers continue the intergenerational cycle (Brigs et

Children who have been abused are left with more than just physical scars. They have many psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems as well. Their social lives are affected dramatically, and they suffer lifelong effects. (Lambert) Children tend to

The present research is aimed at providing an account of early childhood abuse and its effects on further emotional development. A first focus falls on outlining the psychological stages of emotional development and the notion of emotional response, followed by a thorough analysis of the child abuse spectrum together with effects, both early and belated, of general and most notably socio-emotional nature.

A child’s sense of self as separate from the world is formulated early in development. Children exposed to early trauma, especially by a primary care giver, develop a distorted sense of the self, others, and the world. When exposed to trauma, children become overwhelmed and are unable to effectively self-regulate thus leading to a disjointed sense of self. They have a tendency to lose hope and expect that life will be dangerous thus challenging their ability to survive (Terr, 1992). Survival becomes the predominant drive for children exposed to trauma and their focus becomes toward responding and adapting to a potentially threatening environment. Feelings of trust and the sense of self become compromised as resources are allocated toward coping with threats. Traumatized children experience guilt and low self-esteem and perceive themselves as unlovable and unworthy of protection or love (Johnson, 1985, 1987).

In the immediate, as well as long-term aftermath of exposure to trauma, children are at risk of developing significant emotional and behavior difficulties (CWIG, 2012). The most damaging types of trauma include early physical and sexual abuse, neglect, emotional/psychological abuse, exposure to domestic violence and other forms of child maltreatment (Hoch, 2009). Research has shown that children that are exposed to these types of trauma will experience developmental delays including language and verbal processing. Also, they will have risk of poor physiological and psychosocial functioning, and will be vulnerable to emotional and behavioral dysregulation disorders, thus, leading to an increase risk of poor outcomes including substance abuse, suicidality, teen pregnancy and paternity, criminal activity, and revictimization (Hoch, 2009).

Two factors correlating mental health and child development are abuse and neglect. All forms of abuse from physical, sexual, and emotional have a great impact on the consciousness of a child. Due to the damage abuse causes in their psychological development, children express themselves through their emotions and behavior (Mondal & Das, 2014). The physical aspect is the first thing that comes to mind when we come across the word abuse. It does not only stop at the visible scars and bruises, children can also be abused emotionally. Naturally, a child gravitates their biological mother, when the love and nurturing is absent and instead the void

There are significant signs of psychological trauma due to any kind of abuse. Children experience feelings of low self esteem and depression. Many exhibit behavioral problems including aggression towards other children. Other emotional problems include hostility, fear, humiliation and the inability to express feelings. The social impacts of physical abuse include inability to form relationships, poor social skills, poor cognitive language skills, distrust of others, over-compliance with authority figures, and tendency to solve interpersonal problems with aggression. (2008, p. 1). Verbal and physical abuse has a cumulative impact on children’s socialization. Abused children are caught in damaged relationships and are not socialized in positive, supportive way (Craig & Dunn, Ex.: 2010, p. 196). They learn defiance, manipulation and other problem behaviors that are used to escape any maltreatment. In turn they will learn to exploit, degrade and terrorize.

“In 2013, an estimate of 679, 000 children were abused or neglected” (National Children’s Alliance, 2013). Abuse and/or neglect history in young adults can have strong impact physically and emotionally. Previous researchers have found that abuse and/or neglect in young adults can be one linked to personality disorders. They have found that Anti-social Personality Disorder (APD) can be one of the personality disorders that’s linked to abuse and/or neglect. “APD is characterised by a pervasive pattern of poor social conformity, deceitfulness’, impulsivity, aggressiveness, irresponsibility, lack of remorse and criminality” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

In other instances, the parent can confiscate the child’s belongings or force the children to strip down naked and be photographed as a form of punishment. Considering the types of abuse that these children experience, there are psychological effects that can affect their life as they get older. The effects of household abuse can extend outside the home and affect the child in their performance in society. “Children Exposed to Domestic Violence” states that children exposed to family violence can experience difficulties in paying attention and staying on task (Geffner 39). Abused children are prone to externalizing problems which causes children to act out. Externalizing problems include temper tantrums, impulsivity, hyperactivity, aggression, conflict, cruelty and bullying. Another issue that abused children develop are internalizing problems. Internalizing problems are issues such as headaches, sleep disturbances, anxiety, fear of separation, social withdraw and depression. This overall causes the children to be less engaged in tasks and in normal behaviors.

The historical overview of child’s childhood had always being depicted as nonexistent. Abuse and neglect were part of their everyday day lives. Children were supposed to be as efficient as an adult but yet were limited to the wants and needs of their parents, as they were view as belonging to them. I was not until recently that the maltreatment towards children was broken down into four categories which are physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional neglect. On this paper I will be focusing sexual abuse; the long term impact of sexual abuse in the child’s cognitive abilities as well behavior and the overall emotional state and how resiliency plays a roll on the child’s overall adjustment.

Every year, child abuse and neglect affect more than one million children nation-wide (Currie and Tekin 1). Along with this, child abuse is the source of severe injury to more than 500,000 children and the death of over 1,500 children (Currie and Tekin 1). These outrageously large numbers reveal the extent to which child abuse and neglect impact society; however, they do not acknowledge the effect abuse can have on a child’s life and the repercussions that may occur in both the individual’s childhood and adulthood. While the effects most certainly include physical pain and possibly future disabilities, child abuse and neglect can also affects the child’s psychological welfare. Psychological effects are often more difficult to recognize,

Child abuse and neglect have immediate and long-term consequences. In addition to negatively impacting the child, child abuse and neglect impacts the family, the school community, and even future generations. The ability to survive and be successful in the face of child abuse and neglect depends on a variety of factors, including the extent and type of abuse or neglect, whether it was continual or infrequent, the age of the child when abuse was initiated, the child’s relationship to the abuser, and how the abuse or neglect was responded to. Outcomes are also dependent on the child’s personality traits, inner strength, and the support the child receives from those around them. It is important to acknowledge that some children will not develop behavioral problems, so it cannot be assumed that a

Child abuse is a term impacted by copious multidimensional and interactive factors that relate to its origins and effects upon a child's developing capacities and which may act as a catalyst to broader, longer-term implications for adulthood. Such maltreatment may be of a sexual, physical, emotional or neglectful nature, each form holding a proportion of shared and abuse-specific psychological considerations (Mash & Wolfe, 2005). Certainly in terms of the effects / impairments of abuse, developmental factors have been identified across all classifications of child abuse, leading to a comparably greater risk of emotional / mental health problems in adult life within the general population

Childhood trauma is directly associated with patients with Psychopathy/Antisocial Personality Disorder. According to this study by Mesut Cetin which tested a number of Turkish men, patients with ADP reported significantly higher rates of childhood trauma related events. 60.8% of the ADP subjects had at least 1 type of childhood traumatization. Childhood experiences are essential factors of development and directly correlated with the aquiration of ADP and other severe personality disorders. Children with a negative upbringing that experience things such as neglect and abuse are at a much greater risk to develop disorders such as ADP. (Mesut Cetin) This study supports the link between childhood traumas and ADP. Hannibal Lecter undergoes extreme trauma when his family is, murdered and his sister is cannibalized.