The Role of Preschool as a Point of Intervention and Prevention for Trauma-Exposed Children: Recommendations for Practice, Policy, and Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alysse M. Loomis
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Poor Child ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Recommendations For Practice ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma ◽  
Early Trauma

Schools are increasingly being leveraged as intervention points to address childhood trauma due to the well-established links between childhood trauma exposure and poor child well-being outcomes. However, although preschool-aged children experience higher rates of trauma, such as maltreatment and violence exposure, than their older counterparts, there is a dearth of information available related to trauma-informed preschool models. This conceptual article outlines the need for trauma-informed preschool programming and highlights key components of trauma-informed preschool models for young children. This article does so by discussing the known prevalence and impact of early trauma, exploring evidence related to early childhood trauma interventions and trauma-informed education for older children, and outlining recommendations for practice, policy, and research related to trauma-informed preschools.

scholarly journals The wounds of childhood: Early trauma subtypes, salience and hyperarousal in a sample of adult psychiatric patients

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello ◽  
Amelia Rizzo ◽  
Laura Celebre ◽  
Carmela Mento ◽  
Gianluca Pandolfo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Additional Contribution ◽  
Aberrant Salience ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma ◽  
Early Trauma

Background: The relationship between early trauma, hyperarousal and aberrant salience has been investigated exclusively in specific clinical samples, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychotic patients, and the results suggest that both dimensions are trauma-induced events, which may lead to the later onset, or increase the vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. The aim of the present research was to evaluate the possible relationships among early childhood trauma subtypes and the dimensions of hyperarousal and aberrant salience in an adult sample of psychiatric patients. Materials and Methods: One-hundred psychiatric adult outpatients were assessed by Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form (ETISR-SF), Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) and Hyperarousal Scale (H-Scale). A linear regression analysis was performed in order to investigate which early traumatic events were a predictor of the aberrant salience and the hyperarousal. Results: Regression analysis indicated that only ETISR-SF ‘Emotional abuse’ was the unique predictor of ASI ‘Total score’ ( p < .0001) and H-Scale ‘Total score’ ( p = .031), whereas other ETISR-SF variables did not give a significant additional contribution to the prediction of aberrant salience and the hyperarousal dimension. Conclusions: These findings support the role of emotional abuse as predictor of hyperarousal, a basic dimension associated with general vulnerability to mental illness. The awareness of the psychiatric consequences of early childhood trauma leads us to consider the need for better identification of children at risk, to develop effective interventions for the protection of minors from violent and/or inappropriate behaviors and to promote the development of protective resilience factors against re-victimization.

scholarly journals The Role of Cytokines in the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 3849
Author(s):  
Bartosz Dawidowski ◽  
Adrianna Górniak ◽  
Piotr Podwalski ◽  
Zofia Lebiecka ◽  
Błażej Misiak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Clinical Status ◽  
Unknown Etiology ◽  
Systematic Review Methodology ◽  
Cytokine Levels ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma ◽  
Cytokine Dysregulation

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness of unknown etiology. A growing and compelling body of evidence implicates immunologic dysfunction as the key element in its pathomechanism. Cytokines, whose altered levels have been increasingly reported in various patient populations, are the major mediators involved in the coordination of the immune system. The available literature reports both elevated levels of proinflammatory as well as reduced levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines, and their effects on clinical status and neuroimaging changes. There is evidence of at least a partial genetic basis for the association between cytokine alterations and schizophrenia. Two other factors implicated in its development include early childhood trauma and disturbances in the gut microbiome. Moreover, its various subtypes, characterized by individual symptom severity and course, such as deficit schizophrenia, seem to differ in terms of changes in peripheral cytokine levels. While the use of a systematic review methodology could be difficult due to the breadth and diversity of the issues covered in this review, the applied narrative approach allows for a more holistic presentation. The aim of this narrative review was to present up-to-date evidence on cytokine dysregulation in schizophrenia, its effect on the psychopathological presentation, and links with antipsychotic medication. We also attempted to summarize its postulated underpinnings, including early childhood trauma and gut microbiome disturbances, and propose trait and state markers of schizophrenia.

Early Trauma and Later Sexual Victimization in College Women: A Multiple Mediation Examination of Alexithymia, Impulsivity, and Alcohol Use

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110358
Author(s):  
Natira Mullet ◽  
Lindsey G. Hawkins ◽  
Antover P. Tuliao ◽  
Hailey Snyder ◽  
Derek Holyoak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multiple Mediation ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma ◽  
Early Trauma

Childhood abuse and sexual violence against women are prevalent in the United States. However, researchers have not fully explored the intersection among important predisposing factors that predict recent sexual violence experienced by women who are also survivors of childhood abuse. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among early childhood trauma, alexithymia, impulsivity, alcohol use severity, and sexual victimization in later life among female college students from the United States ( n = 1,178). Participants were part of a larger cross-cultural study, conducted between 2012 to 2014, which examined sexual aggression and victimization in the context of alcohol use. The current study aimed to examine if: (a) early trauma, impulsivity, alexithymia, and alcohol use severity impact sexual victimization in later life, and (b) if impulsivity, alexithymia, and alcohol use severity mediate the relationship between early trauma and victimization in later life. It was hypothesized that impulsivity, alexithymia, and alcohol use severity would significantly mediate the relationship between early trauma and sexual victimization in later life. Using a multiple mediation path analysis, results indicated that early childhood trauma was significantly linked with impulsivity, alcohol use severity, and sexual victimization in later life. A partial mediation through impulsivity and alcohol use severity was observed. Alexithymia did not produce mediation effects. These findings align with previous research examining how early childhood trauma influences the occurrence of sexual victimization in later life and provides further recommendations for helping professionals as they attempt to stifle the sexual victimization rates among female college students.

Trauma-informed practices in early childhood education: Contributions, limitations and ethical considerations

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Áurea M Vericat Rocha ◽  
Claudia W Ruitenberg
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Ethical Responsibility ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma ◽  
Health Field

While it should be obvious on moral grounds that abusing children in any shape or form is wrong, biological, medical and economic arguments have been necessary to bring attention to the long-standing impact of early childhood trauma. In particular, stemming from the mental health field, a trauma-informed approach seems to have become a privileged way to understand and attend to children exposed to an array of traumatic experiences. However, the introduction of such an approach is relatively recent and its implementation still needs to be explored. In this article, the authors describe some of the possible contributions and limitations of a trauma-informed approach to early childhood educators’ practice. They highlight the risks involved in privileging children’s socialization to the detriment of their subjectification and underscore the need to broaden dominant approaches to early childhood trauma by assuming an ethical responsibility towards children. To guide educators in the necessary endeavour of encountering each child as an infinite Other, the authors found inspiration in the work of Lithuanian-French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas.

Quality of care after early childhood trauma and well-being in later life: Child Holocaust survivors reaching old age.

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisheva van der Hal-van Raalte ◽  
Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn ◽  
Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Holocaust Survivors ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma

Supporting Young Children Exposed to Potentially Traumatic Events: Implications for Early Care and Education Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-126
Author(s):  
Caroline P. Martin ◽  
Jaclyn Russo ◽  
Hayley Goldenthal ◽  
Carmen Holley ◽  
Karen R. Gouze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Childhood Trauma ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Trauma Exposure ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Early Care And Education ◽  
Early Care ◽  
Potentially Traumatic Events ◽  
Early Childhood Trauma

Every year in the United States, millions of young children under the age of 5 are exposed to potentially traumatic events that threaten their safety, security, and well-being. Decades of scientific research clearly demonstrate the pervasive negative consequences of trauma exposure on young children’s neurocognitive, psychosocial, and physical development, with adverse effects extending into adulthood. In addition, early childhood trauma is now widely recognized as a significant public health concern warranting comprehensive intervention. Federal, state, and private early care and education (ECE) programs serve a large number of the 0 to 5 population and can mitigate the harmful consequences of trauma exposure for children’s health and well-being. The literature on early childhood trauma should guide the creation of policies that strengthen ECE, enabling the delivery of high-quality, equitable, trauma-informed care to young children prior to formal school entry.

Word Awareness, Reading and Development

1977 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-206
Author(s):  
Marjorie H. Holden
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Developmental Factors ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Early School ◽  
Discrete Responses

Research on young children's word awareness, the ability to identify the lexical constituents of a meaningful utterance, has received different interpretations: Either word awareness is related to linguistic and cognitive changes associated with the early school years or is a concept that children can learn when appropriate techniques are employed. This study was devised to clarify the nature of variables influencing word awareness during early childhood by analyzing responses of 26 kindergarten and 24 first-grade children to the Homophones Test of Word Awareness. Responses were assigned to seven categories representing a continuum characterized as ranging from discrete to global. Older children made fewer errors, and they gave a higher proportion of discrete responses. Younger children gave more global responses. Memory was evidently not the source of the younger children's inability to perform as well as the older ones. Rather, the difficulty appeared to stem from the younger children's inability to divorce sound from meaning in spoken messages. The role of developmental factors in children's conscious awareness of language structure and lexical units is supported by these findings.

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