Childhood trauma refers to adverse experiences that occur during a person's early years. These experiences can have lasting effects on an individual's mental and emotional well-being. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are events that can cause stress and trauma in childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction.
Childhood trauma may also be referred to as developmental, trauma, early life trauma, attachment trauma, or relational trauma, which are the terms that are in most cases used as synonyms.
It is important to understand that childhood trauma differs from adult trauma. Children are more vulnerable and less equipped to cope with traumatic experiences compared to adults. The impact of childhood trauma can manifest in various ways throughout a person's life if not addressed and healed. It can impact one’s sense of self and identity, cause issues in adult relationships, and even cause mental health disorders, such as PTSD or personality disorders.
By acknowledging the prevalence and impact of childhood trauma, we can work towards creating a more supportive environment for individuals who have experienced such adversity during their formative years. Understanding the complexities of childhood trauma is crucial in the psychotherapeutic treatment process for those affected by these challenging experiences.
What is Childhood Trauma?
The origins of childhood trauma can vary from one individual to another. What is considered childhood trauma may include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, the loss of a parent or caregiver, medical trauma, exposure to violence or substance abuse in the household, and various other distressing events. It may also involve events that are not directed towards the child. For instance, the child may experience their parents’ breakup or divorce as traumatic.
Childhood trauma can also result from experiences outside the immediate family. These experiences may involve bullying or exposure of the child to witnessing violence in their extended living environment.
It is important to emphasise that not all potentially traumatic events (PTEs) will result in childhood trauma. Whether a child considers something as traumatic will also depend on their subjective experience of the traumatic event. What one child might find traumatic may not be the case for another child.
For instance, a child that may be in a highly stressful situation, such as in an emotionally heightened conflict with one of the parents, may experience the other parent’s indifference to the situation as abandonment, which may evoke a traumatic experience of not being seen. Whilst this may seem like a negligible event in the life of a child, it is their subjective experience of the event at the time when it occurs, that determines whether the event will be experienced as traumatic for the child and whether it will continue to cause psychological distress in the future.
Obviously, the extent, nature and severity of the traumatic experience need to be taken into account, as well as how early in the child's life the trauma occurred. Some adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as severe violence or sexual abuse, will inevitably result in trauma for the child—either consciously or unconsciously.
We also need to bear in mind that childhood trauma often remains unconscious, so whilst an individual as an adult may experience various symptoms, cope with low self-worth, and battle with difficulties in relationships, they may not be aware that the underlying early life trauma may be causing their psychological distress.
The Effects of Childhood Trauma on Adults
Childhood trauma can have a profound impact on adults, affecting not only their physical health but also their mental and emotional well-being. The experiences we go through in our formative years can shape us in ways that last a lifetime.
Physically, adults who have experienced childhood trauma may be more prone to certain health conditions such as heart disease, obesity, chronic pain, pulmonary disease, and other health conditions. The stress and anxiety from past traumas can manifest in physical symptoms that may start in childhood and may then persist into adulthood.
Psychologically and emotionally, the effects of childhood trauma on adults can be far-reaching. Individuals may struggle with issues such as depression (Klumparendt et al., 2019; Negele et al., 2015), anxiety (Kascakova et al., 2020), PTSD, complex PTSD, personality disorders (Berenz et al., 2013), low self-esteem and a lack of self-worth, self-harm (Saçarçelik et al., 2013; Serafini et al., 2017; van Schie et al., 2024), eating disorders (Brewerton, 2022; Groth et al., 2019; Rabito-Alcón et al., 2021; Vidaña et al., 2020), etc.
These mental health challenges can impact every aspect of a person’s life, from self-image and identity, to romantic relationships, work performance to broader social relationships and life in the community.
People who experienced childhood trauma may also struggle with regulating their emotions and coping with stress. Also, childhood trauma poses an increased risk of suicide later in life.
The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Adult Relationships
Adults who experienced childhood trauma may find it difficult form healthy attachments in adult relationships (Related: Adult Attachment Styles). It needs to be emphasised that childhood trauma may impact people and their adult lives in a multitude of ways. These tend to differ depending on the nature of the trauma, its severity, and the child’s own subjective experience of it. Early childhood trauma may affect a person’s development of personality, affecting their identity, sense of self- and self-worth, their capacity for relational intimacy and empathy.
It is common that a person who is a victim of childhood trauma may experience relationship issues such as:
Insecure adult attachment styles that are characterised by excessive attachment avoidance (dismissive avoidant attachment), high attachment anxiety (anxious-preoccupied attachment), or both (fearful-avoidant attachment) may all stem from early childhood trauma, depending on what the nature of trauma was as well as the child’s subjective experience of it. Insecure adult attachment styles can then impact the individual’s engagement in their close relationships in adulthood.
Inability to trust in relationships. There may be a paranoid stance towards others whereby others may be perceived as unsafe, threatening, manipulating, exploitative, overpowering.
Issues with vulnerability and reduced capacities for intimacy and empathy.
Dependency and codependency in relationships, which may include an experience of being unable to tackle adult life alone. This may also include experiences of confusion about one’s sense of self, directionlessness in life and the need for others to feel able to live a meaningful life.
Excessive independence or self-sufficiency where a person does not rely on anyone and may, conversely, be taking care of others and attending to their needs. This may, for instance, take a form of issues with separation from one’s primary family. A person may excessively focus on their parents or the family of origin despite the individual having their own romantic partner or a family of their own.
A pattern of engaging in abusive relationships or relationships where a person is used or keeps taking care of others.
Subjective experience of emptiness, which may be experienced as an internal void, nonexistence, inner emptiness, inner darkness, or an experience of boredom, mediocrity, purposelessness and meaninglessness.
The Role of Psychotherapy in Processing Childhood Trauma
All too often childhood trauma goes untreated at the time when it occurs, leaving the person in a situation where they need to deal with it as an adult. Psychotherapy enables one to work through their trauma and, in the process, deal with its aftermath.
Because childhood trauma often remains unconscious, a person may seek therapy for issues such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, issues with relationships, panic attacks, an others, without knowing that they are underpinned by traumatic experiences in their childhood.
As such, psychotherapy may involve bringing these experiences into awareness and processing the emotions that they encapsulate.
Ales Zivkovic, MSc (TA Psych), CTA(P), PTSTA(P), Psychotherapist, Counsellor, Supervisor
Ales Zivkovic is a psychotherapist, counsellor, and clinical supervisor. He holds an MSc in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy awarded by Middlesex University in London. He is also a Provisional Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (PTSTA-P) and a Certified Transactional Analyst in the field of Psychotherapy (CTA-P). Ales gained extensive experience during his work with individuals and groups in the UK National Health Service (NHS) and his private psychotherapy, counselling, and clinical supervision practice in central London, UK. He was also a member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). Ales works with individuals, couples, and groups. In clinical setting, he especially focuses on the treatment of issues of childhood trauma, personality disorders, and relationship issues. A large proportion of his practice involves online psychotherapy as he works with clients from all over the world. Ales developed a distinct psychotherapeutic approach called interpretive dynamic transactional analysis psychotherapy (IDTAP). More about Ales, as well as how to reach him, can be found here.
References:
Berenz, E. C., Amstadter, A. B., Aggen, S. H., Knudsen, G. P., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Gardner, C. O., & Kendler, K. S. (2013). Childhood trauma and personality disorder criterion counts: a co-twin control analysis. Journal of abnormal psychology, 122(4), 1070–1076. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034238
Brewerton, T. D. (2022). Mechanisms by which adverse childhood experiences, other traumas and PTSD influence the health and well-being of individuals with eating disorders throughout the life span. Journal of Eating Disorders, 10(1), 1–162. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-022-00696-6
Groth, T., Hilsenroth, M., Boccio, D., & Gold, J. (2019). Relationship between Trauma History and Eating Disorders in Adolescents. Journal of child & adolescent trauma, 13(4), 443–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-019-00275-z
Kascakova, N., Furstova, J., Hasto, J., Madarasova Geckova, A., & Tavel, P. (2020). The Unholy Trinity: Childhood Trauma, Adulthood Anxiety, and Long-Term Pain. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(2), 414. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020414
Klumparendt, A., Nelson, J., Barenbrügge, J., & Ehring, T. (2019). Associations between childhood maltreatment and adult depression: a mediation analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 19(1), 36–36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2016-8
Negele, A., Kaufhold, J., Kallenbach, L., & Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2015). Childhood Trauma and Its Relation to Chronic Depression in Adulthood. Depression research and treatment, 2015, 650804. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/650804
Rabito-Alcón, M. F., Baile, J. I., & Vanderlinden, J. (2021). Mediating Factors between Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Eating Disorders Development: A Systematic Review. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 8(2), 114. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8020114
Saçarçelik, G., Türkcan, A., Güveli, H., & Yeşilbaş, D. (2013). Evaluation of the Relation between Deliberate Self-Harm Behavior and Childhood Trauma Experiences in Patients Admitted to a Secondary-Care Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic for Adolescents and Young Adults. Noro psikiyatri arsivi, 50(3), 222–229. https://doi.org/10.4274/npa.y6257
Serafini, G., Canepa, G., Adavastro, G., Nebbia, J., Murri, M. B., Erbuto, D., Pocai, B., Fiorillo, A., Pompili, M., Flouri, E., & Amore, M. (2017). The relationship between childhood maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 8, 149–149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00149
van Schie, C., Gallagher, R., & Krause-Utz, A. (2024). Exploring the Complex Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Self-Harm. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2024.2303525
Vidaña, A. G., Forbush, K. T., Barnhart, E. L., Mildrum Chana, S., Chapa, D. A. N., Richson, B., & Thomeczek, M. L. (2020). Impact of trauma in childhood and adulthood on eating-disorder symptoms. Eating Behaviors : An International Journal, 39, 101426–101426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101426
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