The Impact of Trauma on Development

The word trauma has become very commonplace recently and the truth is, the world just went through (and continues to go through) a collective trauma in the experience of the pandemic. But let’s take a closer look at what exactly the word trauma means. Trauma is both an event and then the experience of the event, or the concurrent stress physiology we learned about in the previous Tidbit. What is traumatic for one person may not be for another. Traumatic events can come in many forms; acute such as a car accident or suicide, or chronic such as poverty, racism, or sustained abuse. Traumatic experiences might include witnessing family violence, separation or loss of caregiver, exposure to a dysregulated or out-of-control adult, natural disasters, or violence, police, or ambulances in the community. If you recall from Tidbit 7, children under the age of 28 months do not have verbal recall (or the recollection of verbal information) and therefore, their experience of trauma is procedural which means it lives and manifests in the body.

Babies come into the world in need of care and safety. The number one biological task of the newborn baby is to seek safety before anything else. Infants and young children believe that they are an extension of their parent or caregiver; they see themselves as another appendage. It isn’t until age 3 or 4 that a child realizes they are separate from their caregiver. Keeping this in mind, when a young child experiences something traumatic, their sense of safety will be compromised, and their sense of danger will increase. They can develop a diminished belief that the adult world can protect them; their sense of trust in themselves and others can decrease.

Picture a sort-of Maslow’s Hierarchy for babies and young children from birth to age 3 or 4. Picture a pyramid with the wide bottom and the point at the top. The wide bottom is safety. Once a baby has established that they are safe, they can then move up the pyramid. Next, the baby seeks a relationship with an adult who will help them learn to regulate their emotions. From there, the baby continues moving up as the pyramid gets narrower; they can engage with the world and begin serve and return with caregivers. Through success in these stages, toddlers begin to develop language to help with expression. Finally, around age 3 or 4 and at the top of the pyramid, logical problem solving develops.

What we need to understand with this pyramid is that, should trauma occur as an infant is moving up the pyramid, they will “drop back down” to the safety level. Their sense of safety has become compromised; the baby or young child must now seek safety again as their primary task. The traumatic event impacts the path to logical development and executive functioning (e.g. ability to plan, problem solve, sustain attention). The capacity to learn becomes compromised because the focus returns to seeking safety. Biological and psychological routines such as eating and sleeping are disrupted; social and behavioral difficulties can increase as the young child is seeking safety. The heart and the lungs are provided increased energy for survival which means energy is not going to support the growth of the bones and muscles. We’ve touched on the neurological impact of sustained neglect which causes holes in the neurological connections of the brain. Many of these “symptoms” can be seen as an attempt at restitution and self-protection.

So let’s not forget about our tiniest members of society. Let’s not forget that they ARE impacted by the stress and traumas in their immediate and distant world around them. Babies are impacted by the way their caregiver experiences trauma. If we see behavioral issues emerging, let’s think about possible trauma. What is the behavior trying to tell us? Often, the child is seeking safety or escaping to find safety.