Child Development & Trauma Impact Flashcards

A child raised in chronic poverty with an unstable housing situation is experiencing which category of ACE?

Answer: Community-level adverse childhood experience

Expanded ACE frameworks classify community-level adversities (poverty, housing instability, neighborhood violence) as ACEs that compound individual and household-level risks.

In Vygotsky's theory, a trauma-informed educator who provides structured scaffolding to help a dysregulated child complete a task is working within which concept?

Answer: Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's ZPD is the space between what a child can do independently and what they can achieve with skilled support—exactly the space trauma-informed educators target.

What does the term 'window of tolerance' refer to in the context of trauma and child development?

Answer: The optimal zone of arousal in which a child can process information and engage in learning

Coined by Daniel Siegel, the window of tolerance describes the arousal zone where the nervous system is regulated enough for effective functioning, learning, and trauma processing.

Which of the following best illustrates a 'secondary trauma' impact on a child's development?

Answer: A child whose parent has untreated PTSD that impairs caregiver responsiveness

Secondary trauma in children most powerfully occurs through caregiver transmission—when a parent's trauma symptoms (hypervigilance, emotional unavailability) disrupt the parent-child relationship.

Which neurotransmitter, critical for reward, motivation, and learning, is most dysregulated by chronic early trauma?

Answer: Dopamine

Chronic stress and early adversity disrupt dopaminergic pathways, impairing reward sensitivity, motivation, and the capacity for pleasure—contributing to depression and risk-seeking behavior.

A trauma-informed CTC consultant notes that an 8-year-old avoids eye contact, uses a flat affect, and rarely initiates social interaction. These behaviors are most consistent with which trauma-related developmental disruption?

Answer: Dorsal vagal shutdown and social engagement system disengagement

Flat affect, gaze aversion, and social withdrawal reflect Polyvagal dorsal vagal state, in which the social engagement system (ventral vagal) is offline due to perceived chronic threat.

Research on resilience in children exposed to trauma consistently identifies which single factor as the strongest protective element?

Answer: At least one stable, caring relationship with a competent adult

Decades of resilience research (Werner, Garmezy, Masten) converge on the finding that one consistent, nurturing relationship with a trusted adult is the most robust buffer against the effects of adversity.