Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development

What makes up a healthy development?

• Loving Caregivers• Good Nutrition• Cognitive Stimulation• Linguistic input (talking

to them)

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

What could happen if a child is reared in an environment without these factors?

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Deprivation and Trauma

Deprivation• living in a state of various fo

rms of neglect to provide basic needs

• Deprivation is often related to institutionalization, growing up in poverty, and parental problems (e.g. alcoholism or mental illness.

Trauma• experiencing a powerful

shock (e.g. divorce, death of a parent, physical or sexual abuse, natural disasters, or war.

• Such experiences may have long-lasting effects on development.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

It is not possible to make a clear-cut distinction between effects of deprivation or trauma: they

are much the same

Experiences of deprivation can also be traumatizing for the child.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

First let's look at Trauma

• Potential effect of trauma: PTSD

• Children who have experienced severe and repeated trauma may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which could interfere with normal development.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

PTSD in Childhood

• If left untreated children may exhibit impulsivity, agitation, hyper-vigilance, avoidance behavior, and emotional numbness.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Carrion et al. (2009) • performed fMRI scans and

found that children suffering from PTSD after experiencing extreme stressors such as abuse or witnessing violence performed worse on a simple verbal memory test and showed less hippocampal activity compared to a control group.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Carrion et al. (2009) • The participants who

performed worst on the test were those who also showed specific PTSD symptoms such as withdrawal from those who wanted to help them.

• They also had difficulties remembering the trauma, felt cut off from others, and showed lack of emotion.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Now let's look at Deprivation

Potential effects of deprivation:

• cognitive impairment• attachment disorder

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

The Romanian Orphans

• In 1989 Nicolae Ceaușescu regime was overthrown in Romania.

• the world became aware of thousands of children who were warehoused in Romanian orphanages.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

The Romanian Orphans• between 100,000 and

300,000 children lived in these baby homes or orphanages for the school-aged or in institutions for persons considered to be "irrecuperable" (unrecoverable).

• Most children experienced severe emotional and physical deprivation.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

The Romanian Orphans• When Westerners saw

television documentaries of the appalling conditions, many were eager to adopt and rushed to take action.

• thousands of adoptive parents from the United States, Canada and other countries ultimately succeeded in adopting children.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

The Romanian Orphans

• The simultaneous adoptions of so many Romanian orphans provided researchers with a unique opportunity to view the impact of adoption on primarily institutionalized babies and young children.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

The English and Romanian adoptees study

• This is a longitudinal study of 324 Romanian adoptees that entered the UK between February 1990 and September 1992.

• The aim was to investigate potential long-term effects of severe deprivation in childhood.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

The English and Romanian adoptees study

• All the children had been reared from infancy in very deprived institutions in Romania and adopted into UK families at various ages up to 42 months.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Michael Rutter

• Michael Rutter was one of the lead researchers with the English and Romanian adoptees study

• Side note… he criticized Bowlby

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004)

• investigated a sample of 144 children who were, at that time, six years of age.

• The parents were interviewed at home and answered questionnaires on the family and the child’s behavior.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004)

• Three months later the child was assessed using observations and standard cognitive and developmental measures including tests on general cognitive functioning and attachment behavior.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004) • The focus was on

cognitive impairment and attachment disturbance in children who had spent more than six months in the institutions.

• The study found no major deficits in children who had spent less than six months there.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004) Cognitive impairment• Cognitive impairment was found in

15.4% of the adoptees from Romania but in only 2.3% of the adoptees from the UK.

• There was a persistent cognitive deficit at age six in the children who remained longest in the deprived Romanian institutions before being adopted.

• This was particularly the case for those children who had also suffered from severe malnutrition.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004)

• These children also had a much smaller head circumference at the time they entered the UK and this could also be observed at age six.

• This could suggest neural damage.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004)

Attachment disorder• Data was collected in

semi-structured interviews with parents to assess the child’s behavior toward the parent and other adults in both novel and familiar situations.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004)

• There was a relationship between length of institutional deprivation and attachment disorders.

• No significant deficits were found in the children who entered the UK below the age of six months.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Rutter et al. (2004)

• A number of children showed an insecure attachment pattern called disinhibited attachment disorder/ reactive attachment disorder

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Reactive Attachment Disorder

Characterized by• lack of preference for

contact with caregivers versus relative strangers

• definite lack of checking back with the parent in anxiety provoking situations

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Reactive Attachment Disorder• Reactive attachment disorder

develops because the child's basic needs for comfort, affection and nurturing aren't met and loving, caring attachments with others are never established.

• This may permanently change the child's growing brain, hurting the ability to establish future relationships.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Reactive Attachment Disorder

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.

Conclusionaccording Rutter et al (2004)

• lack of personalized care giving may well be the key factor that puts children’s social development at risk.

• Generally the data revealed a major degree of recovery in children suffering from profound institutional deprivation: the effects were not fixed and irreversible.

Discuss potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.