Final Research Paper

 The Unnerving Effects of Childhood Trauma

Introduction

It’s no debate that childhood experiences provide the foundation for one’s behavior,

health and future decisions. All of the early interactions we experience develop and shape our

habits, values and thought processes. The attitudes and behaviors learned from parental figures and other family members shape who we are and what we will become. As a result, individuals with abnormal childhoods may grow up and experience the world with a vastly different approach than others. Childhood trauma is defined as a psychological result of an external blow, whether sudden or a series, that renders the child temporarily helpless and breaks past ordinary coping mechanisms (Browne, 2007). Many studies have revealed that individuals with some form of childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect may be very likely to display abnormal behaviors later on in their teen/adult years. Throughout my research, I discovered various long-term effects that can be caused by negative childhood experiences, including aggression, deviant and criminal behavior, mental illnesses, and promiscuity. The aftermath of a broken childhood is a sickening reality that many people must live with for possibly the rest of their lives.

Mental Illness and Attachment Patterns

            Mental illness is one of the most common effects that can be seen in victims of child abuse. Although it can vary from individual to individual, whether it be depression, anxiety or dissociation, all of these can be manifestations of childhood trauma in adults. Whether it be psychological or physical, abuse makes children experience a disruption to the attachment system and cognitive development. According to Briere’s (1996) trauma model, for adult survivors of child abuse, attachment patterns and cognitive style have been found to have a mediating effect on the expression of trauma-related symptoms, such as depression and dissociation, as well as their coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse and self-harming. These detrimental effects were most commonly found in child abuse survivors who reported having an insecure attachment style. An insecure attachment pattern may be characterized by a variety of different behaviors. Individuals with an insecure attachment style may tend to become clingy or needy in their closest relationships, behave in selfish and manipulative ways when they feel vulnerable, or simply shy away from intimacy altogether.  Similarly, in a longitudinal study, Brown,Cohen, Johnson, and Smailes (1999) found that children and adolescents who reported a history of abuse or neglect were more likely to exhibit a depressive disorder and reported more past suicide attempts than the non-maltreated subjects. Research has shown that children who are exposed to violence in the home are generally less attached to and receive less support from their caregivers (Levendosky, Huth-Bocks, & Semel, 2002; Rikhye et al., 2008; Styron & Janoff Bulman, 1997). Cultivating such an attachment pattern from their parents may lead to the development of a negative model of self and of others. Developing an insecure attachment style due to child maltreatment can have an irreversible effect on the way an individual gives and receives love in future relationships. In turn, these psychological processes may manifest into trauma symptoms like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and dissociation.

Criminality and Delinquency

            Another possible result of having experienced trauma/abuse as a child is criminality. In 1995, the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) conducted a study on serious and violent juvenile offenders and found that 90% of juvenile offenders had experienced some sort of traumatic event during their childhood and up to 30% of justice-involved American youth actually meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder due to trauma experienced during childhood (Dierkhising, 2013). This statistic clearly reveals that childhood trauma produces a motivator in adolescents for deviant/antisocial behavior. The connection between child maltreatment and criminality can be explained through the developmental pathology perspective, which examines the roots and nature of deviance in maltreated children. Theorists studying this paradigm have found that abused and neglected children have a higher likelihood of detrimental development outcomes, including psychopathology (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995; Toth & Cicchetti, 2013). Research has suggested that adverse childhood experiences may cause chromosome damage (Shalev et al., 2013) and functional changes to the developing brain (Anda, Butchart, Felitti, & Brown, 2010; Cicchetti, 2013; Danese & McEwen, 2012; Teicher et al., 2003). These statistics are evidence that the trauma that is caused by a difficult childhood goes deeper than a psychological level and can actually affect an individual on a genetic level. It can cause forms of neural impairment disrupting the regulatory processes central to maintaining their normal wellbeing. The issue circles back to my first analysis of mental illnesses and child maltreatment, because mental illness is one of the primary root causes or criminality. Broken family structures and exposure to criminality by family members are two of the primary factors that can lead to criminality because such trauma creates a warped reality for individuals, causing them to give inappropriate responses to typical life issues (Ross 2022).

Increased sexual behavior

            Childhood trauma can also cause an increase in various types of sexual activity, leading to many negative health risks. Fergusson (1997) found that individuals reporting sexual abuse histories were significantly more likely to engage in sexual risk-taking activities, including higher rates of consensual sexual activity, and to have higher rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, multiple sexual partners, and unprotected sexual behaviors. Another study showed that individuals who were not exposed to sexual abuse when younger were not as likely to engage in increased sexual risk-taking behavior. Certain subgroups of individuals with traumatic histories were shown to be at increased risk of pregnancy. A study showed that youth in foster care have persistently higher rates of adolescent pregnancy, as much as twice that of the general population. Additionally, another study showed that a variety of childhood adversities significantly contributed to the risk of teen pregnancy, abortion, and rapid-repeat pregnancy. All of these risks can result in many unwanted children in the foster-care system,

Conclusion

            In conclusion, the negative effects that are caused by childhood abuse are greatly detrimental to anyone and highlight how important it is to take the necessary measures to raise awareness about childhood maltreatment and fight against it. Childhood trauma leaves a permanent imprint on someone’s mind and can greatly taint that person’s future. An individual’s childhood years are possibly some of the most important, as they shape future behaviors and how we face the world. Whether it be mental illness, high criminality/deviance rates, or extreme sexual behaviors, nobody deserves to live with the haunting aftermath that childhood trauma produces. Children are the future, and we must fight to protect those who have the future in their hands.

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

References

  Arata, Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Bowers, D., & O’Farrill-Swails, L. (2005). Single versus Multi-Type Maltreatment: An Examination of the Long-Term Effects of Child Abuse. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 11(4), 29–52. https://doi.org/10.1300/J146v11n04_02

 

  Garwood, Gerassi, L., Jonson-Reid, M., Plax, K., & Drake, B. (2015). More Than Poverty: The Effect of Child Abuse and Neglect on Teen Pregnancy Risk. Journal of Adolescent Health, 57(2), 164–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.05.004

 

Fox, Bryanna & Perez, Nicholas & Cass, Elizabeth & Baglivio, Michael & Epps, Nathan. (2015). Trauma changes everything: Examining the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious, violent and chronic juvenile offenders. Child Abuse & Neglect. 46. 10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.01.011.

 

Robinson, L., Segal, J., & Jaffe, J. (n.d.). How attachment styles affect adult relationships. HelpGuide.org. Retrieved December 19, 2022, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/attachment-and-adult-relationships.htm#:~:text=Attachment%20styles%20and%20how%20they%20shape%20adult%20relationships&text=Those%20with%20insecure%20attachment%20styles,shy%20away%20from%20intimacy%20altogether.

 

Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Child Abuse and Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence, Parent-Child Attachments, and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence Cindy Sousa, Todd I. Herrenkohl, Carrie A. Moylan, Emiko A. Tajima, J. Bart Klika, Roy C. Herrenkohl, and M. Jean Russo Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2010 26:1, 111-136