Child Development & Trauma Impact Flashcards

Which ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study finding best illustrates the dose-response relationship between trauma and health outcomes?

Answer: Each additional ACE score point linearly increases risk of physical and mental health problems

The original Felitti et al. (1998) ACE study demonstrated a graded, dose-response relationship: higher ACE scores correlate with progressively worse health outcomes across the lifespan.

A child who experienced early trauma frequently misreads neutral facial expressions as threatening. This reflects dysfunction in which process?

Answer: Social information processing bias

Trauma creates a hostile attribution bias within social information processing, causing children to perceive neutral or ambiguous cues as threatening.

What is the primary mechanism by which early relational trauma affects gene expression without altering DNA sequence?

Answer: Epigenetic modification

Trauma influences gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms—such as DNA methylation and histone modification—that regulate how genes are expressed without changing underlying DNA.

A 10-year-old trauma survivor freezes and cannot speak when called on in class. From a polyvagal theory perspective, this is best explained by activation of which state?

Answer: Dorsal vagal shutdown/freeze

Porges' Polyvagal Theory identifies the dorsal vagal complex as responsible for immobilization and shutdown responses when fight-or-flight fails to resolve perceived threat.

Which of the following best describes 'complex trauma' (C-PTSD) as distinguished from single-incident PTSD in children?

Answer: Cumulative exposure to multiple interpersonal traumas over time with pervasive developmental impact

Complex trauma involves repeated, prolonged interpersonal victimization (often by caregivers) that disrupts development across multiple domains, distinguishing it from single-incident PTSD.

During which developmental stage is the brain most dependent on co-regulation from caregivers to develop self-regulation capacities?

Answer: Infancy and toddlerhood (0–3 years)

The regulatory circuitry in the brain develops most rapidly in the first 3 years, and co-regulation by attuned caregivers is the primary external scaffold for emerging self-regulation.

Which somatic symptom is most commonly reported by school-age children as a trauma-related physical complaint?

Answer: Recurrent abdominal pain and headaches

Recurrent abdominal pain and headaches are the most frequently reported somatic symptoms in school-age children with trauma histories, reflecting the mind-body connection in stress responses.