A healthy brain is necessary for reaching one’s full potential and general well-being. Children and adolescents who have been subjected to child abuse or neglect and accompanying trauma may have their brain development disrupted, resulting in functional deficits. Persistent maltreatment may disrupt a child’s brain development and have long-term effects on a child’s emotional, psychological, and behavioral health. Child welfare specialists on the front lines are uniquely qualified to identify developmental delays in children and adolescents and to offer necessary support services.
Trauma in childhood takes many forms, from other families with higher stress levels and a history of violence to poor home environments with inconsistent maternal presence. Trauma can affect children differently, with geographical differences in risk factors contributing to varied behavior problems in individuals (Ungar, 2013). Studies have shown that trauma children arise from more tumultuous home lives and suffer greater mental illness than others in the same region. Studies also report that children raised at low socioeconomic levels by single mothers are susceptible to a greater risk of suffering childhood trauma being inflicted upon them. This is due to these children’s immaturity and lack of parenting skills, making them more easily influenced by their caregivers, putting them at greater risk of abuse as they get older. The phenomenon of disorganized attachment has also been linked to early trauma experienced as a child that correlates with later difficulties in relationships with other adults and their peers. This disorganization typically manifests as poor communication skills between caregivers and children, poor language development, or inconsistent rules or verbal instructions.
There is still evidence supporting the idea that trauma in childhood has lasting effects on core mental, behavioral and emotional health issues a person acquires when they grow into their full adulthood. Evidence shows that those treated for clinical depression and anxiety in childhood are more likely to present signs of alienation, parents who abuse drugs, and children who suffer neglect or neglect on multiple levels. Although there is evidence associating early life trauma with poor academic achievement, peer relationships, communication, and development skills, adult depression rates have been linked with poorer sexual behavior before 18 years.
According to research studies, spirituality can help reduce the emotions accompanying child abuse and trauma. When kids live in some structured or fairly stable environment, they are more likely to reach maturity autonomy and therefore develop better skills like socializing with others. Preventing this development by a mother who has her issues is the major reason why her kid gropes into trauma (Ungar, 2013). Regardless of how bad or violent the suffering parents are because they haven’t been able to deal with those problems themselves emotionally, their children too have an even greater probability of becoming mentally ill as adults due to them becoming more ferociously dependent on authorities for support (Fast & Collin-Vezina, 2019). This happens when kids do not have a sufficiently secure base for survival – an intimate connection with their caregivers – which would allow them to reach out for help as needed instead of completely transferring stress and trauma onto others through negative adaptation -allowing their symptoms to spiral out of control.
Spiritual development and how it can counter the effects of trauma.
Spiritual development counters trauma. Many families experience stress because they do not know whether they are safe and if anything goes wrong. The home can be unfamiliar and isolating for even aggressive family members, a comfortable environment. If there are no adequate arms of support, less likely are children to fight mental illness by going off drugs for the drug addiction, which is far greater than parents would have treated anyways (Ungar, 2013). Sometimes the adults involved in abuse represent primary love and security when their kids become adults. When children live in some structured or fairly stable environment, they are more likely to reach maturity autonomy and therefore develop better skills like socializing with others. Preventing this development by a mother who has her issues is the major reason why her kid gropes into trauma. It counters learning disorders that many adolescents grow up with (Roberto et al., 2020). Spiritual development can soften the difficult experiences that children encounter as they grow up in the family unit and stem mentally unhealthy behaviors of the kids due to them becoming more ferociously dependent on authorities for support (Fast & Collin-Vezina, 2019). A healthy and cohesive environment that helps provide shelter makes sense, supports peaceful adults and healthy habits as a part of life experience, avoiding circumstances where one’s unity grows into all-out chaos and mental illness, thus making it easier for adults.
In conclusion, the trauma that these children experience impacts the brain, prompting lifelong functional deficits that may threaten their emotional and psychological development. The mental and physical health needs should be addressed as early as possible to reduce the prevalence of long-term complications. Spiritual development may be impacted by long-term trauma, particularly in children. The child might not experience resiliency and be prone to experiencing trauma symptoms. In the future, researchers should focus on how spiritual growth can be integrated into treatment modalities proposed by specialists in treating trauma. Intervention models should focus on lower pathologies, stress management, and healthy relationships.
References
Fast, E., & Collin-Vezina, D. (2019). Historical trauma, race-based trauma, and resilience of indigenous peoples: A literature review. First Peoples Child & Family Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Honouring the Voices, Perspectives, and Knowledges of First Peoples through Research, Critical Analyses, Stories, Standpoints and Media Reviews, 14(1), 166-181. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/fpcfr/1900-v1-n1-fpcfr05475/1071294ar/abstract/
Roberto, A., Sellon, A., Cherry, S. T., Hunter-Jones, J., & Winslow, H. (2020). Impact of spirituality on resilience and coping during the COVID-19 crisis: A mixed-method approach investigating the impact on women. Health care for women international, 41(11-12), 1313-1334. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07399332.2020.1832097
Ungar, M. (2013). Resilience, trauma, context, and culture. Trauma, violence, & abuse, 14(3), 255-266. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1524838013487805
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