What bad things could possibly happen to children in their first five years of life?

What dramatic experiences could possibly happen to a child between birth and 5 years old?

It turns out that there are many situations that can expose young children to trauma. Early victimization that can negatively impact how a child develops is more common than many people realize.

Psychologists know that these very young children are more vulnerable to things like injury or even traumatic death then they will be later in life.

It has been assumed that preschoolers, toddlers, and infants forget things like violent acts or other kinds of trauma to which they have been exposed. It has been believed that they are so young that they could not possibly understand what was going on, and therefore would quickly recover. That thinking is wrong, wrong, wrong!

Psychologists have studied the types and the impact of early victimization and trauma to which very young children can be exposed. There have been many studies. The general results suggest that 75 percent of the abused kids who ultimately were killed were under four years old. It has been suggested that the first year of life may be the most dangerous period of a child’s life.

Abuse and neglect are frequent causes. A child may be born into a house where he or she will be exposed to domestic violence. Then there are accidents. The very young child may suffer injury or death from things like falling, drowning, burning, choking, poisoning, or suffocation.

Physical abuse, sexual abuse, intentional victimization, and witnessing family violence are not uncommon. Car accidents, being hospitalized, or losing a parent are other sources of traumatic stress.

Another factor that needs to be taken into account is if the trauma occurred once or if it was repeated or chronic. Repeated trauma (revictimization ) results in the most severe psychological impact. Being abused, in addition to watching domestic abuse/violence, intensifies the impact.

One impact on the child is how safe he or she feels. Is there a parent, or someone, whom they can count on to protect them from danger. If not, the child might learn not to trust other people, relationships, or family. They learn not to expect that the people close to them will protect them from danger. Once that is learned their ability to form healthy relationships in adulthood may be impaired.

When the child learns that traumatic experiences are a normal part of life, he or she will be on guard, always vigilant, and make it difficult to explore and learn from their environment. It may even be difficult to simply play. There may be reminders of the original traumatic experiences that trigger the original feelings associated with the trauma, and that will impact the child’s development. If the parent is part of the traumatic situation, the parent is associated with the trauma, which results in the child learning not to trust the parent. If the parents’ behavior has been frightening, the child may be reluctant to trust or to get close to that parent. Pervasive traumatic experiences in early childhood and infancy can result in psychological issues later in life.

Research studies have found that school-age children who are exposed to early trauma can have difficult social relationships, may be victimized by their peers, and have problematic behavior issues. If exposed to domestic violence he or she may be aggressive with other kids be pessimistic, and respond inappropriately in many situations.

There really is no doubt that traumatic experiences in early childhood have a negative impact on a child’s development. Psychologists can frequently trace the source of some adult psychological problems to unresolved traumatic stress that occurred early in the patient’s life.

Infants, toddlers, and preschool children have longer memories than you might think. We should try to make the good memories outnumber the bad ones. The bad memories, and the feelings associated with them are stored away forever.

— Dr. Joseph Switras provides clinical psychological services at United Health District in Fairmont to people age 5 and up.