Child Maltreatment on Brain Development : Part 2

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 2 of 5)

Dissociation

While hyper-arousal is more common in older children and males, dissociation is more common in younger children and in females-children who often feel or are immobile or powerless. Dissociation is characterized by first attempting to bring caretakers to help, and if this is unsuccessful, becoming motionless (freezing) and compliant and eventually dissociating; this is often called the "surrender" response. People describe children in a dissociative state as numb, non-reactive, or "acting like they aren't there."

Just as children in a state of hyper-arousal have sensitized neural pathways controlling their response to a threatening environment, children in a state of dissociation have sensitized neural pathways that elicit a different response. A child in a dissociative state, when presented with a threat, may "freeze," both physically and cognitively. When an adult asks or tells them to do something, they don't respond. If the adult becomes angry and more threatening, the child becomes even more anxious and moves further into full dissociation.

Disrupted Attachment Process

At the foundation of much of our development is the concept of "attachment" which refers to the emotional relationships we have with other people. One of the first priorities of an infant is to form an attachment to his primary caregiver. This relationship not only provides the foundation for future emotional relationships, it also provides the base for other learning, because babies and children learn best when they feel safe, calm, protected, and nurtured by their caregivers. If the attachment process is disrupted, as can occur with abusive and neglectful caretakers, the child's brain will be more focused on meeting his day-to-day needs for survival rather than building the foundation for future growth.

Much of a child's emotional development is rooted in his relationships with his early primary caregivers. For example, it appears that aggressive, submissive, and frustration behaviors may be genetically encoded. If relationships with the caregivers are positive, the child's cognitive structures learn to regulate these emotions and behaviors. If the relationships are negative or weak, the lower-brain responses become dominant and the cognitive regulating structures do not develop to their full capacity-the young child may not fully develop the cognitive ability to control his emotions, nor develop an awareness of others' emotions.

One example of a potential effect of poor early attachments is impaired "social cognition". Social cognition involves an awareness of oneself in relation to others and an awareness of the emotions of others. If these abilities are poorly developed, many types of social interactions may be experienced as stressful-unfamiliar, strange situations that are difficult for the child to incorporate because he does not have a strong internal representation (memory) of what is happening and how to respond. Children who have been abused and neglected often lack empathy and truly do not understand what others feel like when they do something hurtful.

Neglect-Lack of Stimulation

While chronic abuse or neglect can result in sensitized fear response patterns, neglect alone also can result in other problems. Although neglect often is thought of as a failure to meet a child's physical needs for food, shelter, and safety, neglect also can be a failure to meet a child's cognitive, emotional, or social needs. For children to master developmental tasks in these areas, they need opportunities, encouragement, and acknowledgement from their caregivers. If this stimulation is lacking during children's early years, the weak neuronal pathways that had been developed in expectation of these experiences may wither and die-the children may not achieve the usual developmental milestones.

For example, babies need to experience face-to-face baby talk and hear countless repetitions of sounds in order to build the brain circuitry that will enable them to start making sounds and eventually say words and form sentences. If babies are ignored, if their caregivers do not provide this type of intense verbal interaction, their language development may be delayed. If a child does not receive kindness as an infant, he may not know how to show kindness as an adult. If a child's cries for attention are ignored as a toddler, he may not know how to interact positively with others later. These capacities may not fully develop because the required neuronal pathways were not activated enough to form the "memories" needed for future learning.

About the Author

www.childwelfare.gov
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.