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Final Research Paper: Trauma in Early Childhood and Its Effects on Children

Alondra Pulido De La Rosa

Department of Education, University of Chicago

EPSY 471: Healthy Development Trauma

Dr. Stephanie Torres

December 10, 2024

Trauma is an emotional response to a distressing event which can have lasting negative

effects throughout a person's life. Common examples of trauma include accidents, natural

disasters, acts of violence, death of a loved one, and war. Oftentimes these traumatic events

affect a person’s ability to self regulate their emotions and their idea of self and safety is

compromised. Childhood trauma results from “anything that disrupts a child’s sense of safety,

including: An unstable or unsafe environment. Separation from a parent. Serious illness.

Intrusive medical procedures. Sexual, physical, or verbal abuse. Domestic violence.

Neglect”(Emotional and psychological trauma, 2024).

Trauma affects about 70% of people in the United States and about 50% of children will

experience a traumatic event in their lifetime. This is an important issue to address because of its

negative impact on children both academically and personally. There are so many kids going

through traumatic events and traumatic stress and it's important that as educators we can see

signs and know how to help our students who are going through difficult times. Younger

children dealing with trauma experience more behavioral and physiological symptoms than

older children who are more able to express in words how they feel or what they're going

through. This is an important reason as to why it's important to be able to recognize signs and

certain changes in behavior in younger children.

Why is it important to address childhood trauma? One important reason is childhood

trauma affects a childs’ development. Their brain cortex is “responsible for complex functions

including memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thinking, language, and consciousness.

These changes may affect IQ and the ability to regulate emotions, and the child may become
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more fearful and may not feel as safe or as protected.”As educators we should try to make the

class a learning space in which all our students are able to learn, creating a trauma-informed

environment and training our educators to see and deal with trauma. The importance of

“recognizing the signs, symptoms, and potential widespread impacts of traumatic stress and

responding by incorporating understanding of this experience into policies and

practices”(Champine, R.B., Matlin, S., Strambler, M.J. et al, 2018). This paper aims to address

how these strategies help students be more successful and help them cope with these situations

and the repercussions from them.

An important practice in reducing traumatic stress and promoting positive development is

by providing/creating a safe space for students and building a nurturing connection, one which is

built on trust and safety. Educators can also be a “reliable presence of a positive, caring, and

protective parent/caregiver, who can help shield their children against adverse experiences. They

can be a consistent resource for their children, encouraging them to talk about the experiences.

And they can provide reassurance to their children that the adults in their life are working to keep

them safe”(Zero to Six Collaborative Group, 2010) As educators we are responsible for

supporting young people and we can do this through “nurturing relationships, and through

predictable expectations and routines in the classroom”(Zero to Six Collaborative Group, 2010).

While educators are not caregivers, they are close to students and should build relationships with

them that share similar values as those of families. We should care about their wellbeing and

respond to trauma similar to how a caregiver would. “There are three main elements in

caregivers’ responses to their children’s trauma: believing and validating their child’s

experience, tolerating the child’s affect, and managing the caregivers’ own emotional response.
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When a caregiver denies the child’s experiences, the child is forced to act as if the trauma did not

occur. The child also learns he or she cannot trust the primary caregiver and does not learn to use

language to deal with adversity”(Complex Trauma in Children and Adolescents, 2007). An

educator is not a caregiver nor should they be overstepping boundaries but they can follow the

same elements caregivers do to provide an adequate environment for learning/instruction.

Another important practice in reducing traumatic stress and promoting positive

development is receiving training to be able to differentiate different behaviors students can

display when affected by trauma. Usually symptoms of trauma in children result in “acting out

behaviors and defiance due to the inability of traumatized students to regulate emotions and trust

others. In the typical school setting, these types of behaviors lead to discipline that can be impact

self-worth, lead to social isolation, and can be retraumatizing to students. When school systems

approach students with a trauma lens, they are better equipped to provide educational and social–

emotional supports needed to help students reach their potential and enter schools ready to

learn.”(Phifer, L. W., & Hull, R. (2016). Students who lash out and cannot control their

emotions could be suffering from trauma or have other issues which educators should be able to

recognize and be prepared to deal with. Usually students who are traumatized react in ways that

other adults might deem as destructive and want to resolve the issue through discipline. In

traumatized students these forms of disciplines dont work and are even damaging to them in

some cases. An important strategy could include changing our forms of discipline in school

contexts but not only should we focus on discipline but understanding trauma as a whole and its

effects on children. Not all children will display the same symptoms or react the same way as

another which is why it's important for educators to be trained and have knowledge on what to
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do in these situations. We can help students by “informing school staff about the signs and

impact of trauma on learning, implementing social–emotional components within the curriculum,

teaching students positive coping skills, engaging teaching practices, etc”(Phifer, L. W., & Hull,

R. (2016) These are some preventive measures that educators can use to promote learning in a

safe environment.

What are some gaps or inconsistencies in the literature? The literature goes into depth on

the effects of trauma on children and what educators can do to help students exhibiting

symptoms of trauma but doesn't take into account how other circumstances can affect these

symptoms.

For example a child who has ADHD might react differently than one who doesn't. How

do we help those students and how do we know when one certain reaction is because of trauma

and not because of some other explanation. While all of the sources I used mentioned the

importance of fostering connections and creating nurturing environments, they didn't address

how to continue helping or how as educators we can also manage our own stress and avoid

becoming traumatized as well. I think promoting community support is very important to

promote positive development in youth. Not only do we learn in community settings, but we

learn how to act around others and we become part of something bigger than ourselves. Having a

community is important especially for children because it builds on important skills like

resilience, empathy, communication and deepens their cultural understanding. All these skills are

needed and helpful for students to excel.

Another circumstance that could affect this is the children's environment. “In the United

States, persons of color, sexual minorities, persons of lower socioeconomic status (SES), and

individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have higher rates of traumatic stress

exposure”(Tebes, J. K., Champine, R. B., Matlin, S. L., & Strambler, M. J., 2019). How does this

affect educators and how we deal with trauma in the classroom? I think this is an area where

more research can be done as well. So many students are predisposed to trauma because of the

social status they were born into. How can we help these students especially when there are so

many. I would have liked my research to dive deeper into this matter.

Overall, this research showed many different trauma-informed strategies for helping

students achieve better in class and in life. Through community and a sense of safety. Through

training and changing our discipline practices to make school an experience which does not

retraumatize students and rehabilitate them in the best way possible. Educators are not

responsible for treating students and their trauma but they should be able to make their classroom

a safe place where students can concentrate and actually learn rather than be on alert or scared all

the time. Sort of being a backup ally, as the main circle in the students life is their family and

friends. After families and friends, school is where children spend the most time with others.

Learning in this environment and from the people within it. The strategies I mentioned can help

educators support positive development in youth.

Sources

Champine, R.B., Matlin, S., Strambler, M.J. et al. Trauma-Informed Family Practices:

Toward Integrated and Evidence-Based Approaches. J Child Fam Stud 27, 2732–

2743 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1118-0

Emotional and psychological trauma. HelpGuide.org. (2024, August 23).

https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/ptsd-trauma/coping-with-emotional-and-

psychological-trauma

F. Population Health and Trauma-Informed Practice: Implications for Programs, Systems,

and Policies. American journal of community psychology, 64(3-4), 494–508.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12382

Phifer, L. W., & Hull, R. (2016). Helping students heal: Observations of trauma-informed

practices in the schools. School Mental Health: A Multidisciplinary Research and

Practice Journal, 8(1), 201–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-016-9183-2

Spinazzola, Joseph & Cook, Alexandra & Ford, Julian & Lanktree, Cheryl & Blaustein,

Margaret & Sprague, Caryll & Cloitre, Marylene & DeRosa, Ruth & Hubbard,

Rebecca & Kagan, Richard & Liautaud, Joan & Mallah, Karen & Olafson, Erna &

van der Kolk, Bessel. (2007). Complex Trauma in Children and Adolescents. Focal

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Zero to Six Collaborative Group, National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2010). Early

childhood trauma. Los Angeles, CA & Durham, NC: National Center for Child

Traumatic Stress.