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I believe that everyone knows that stress can have unfortunate consequences for anyone who is experiencing tension, pressure, feeling overwhelmed, helplessness, worry, or anything similar. If we are facing something that we interpret as some type of threat there are physical and psychological reactions to that situation. Researchers know a lot about how stress impacts adults. There is still much to learn about what the short and long-term consequences of stress are for young children.
First, how do psychologists explain what stress is? It starts with a stressor. Think of a stressor as some type of demand to which a person has to respond or cope. It is something that you have to deal with whether you like it or not. It may be a situation that triggers a physical response which may also include worry, anxiety, or some other unpleasant feeling. Just about anything can be a stressor such as losing a job, getting sick, noise, too many people, conflicts with others, being in debt, deadlines, or even not getting enough sleep. It may even be something that you are afraid will happen, possible or not.
There are an unlimited number of stressors that may be facing a young or very young child. The child does not have the tools, coping skills, strength, or knowledge to handle most stressors. If a family does not give enough protection, or even is the source of the stressors, that child faces a hard road. It is well known that stress in childhood can lead to psychological problems when they are adults.
How does stress do that? First, you must remember that our experiences shape our brain. Our experiences affect the development, the wiring if you wish, of our brain. The wiring and rewiring of our brain goes on till you leave this earth. Think how important it is to get that wiring right from the start. Researchers believe that the basic mechanism is that experience is converted into chemical and physical brain structures impacting our very basic genetic codes. The name for the conversion process is epigenetics. Epigenetics involves how the things you do, the things you eat, and things like stress can literally impact how your genes work. The things you encounter in your environment actually can turn genes on or off. Thankfully the genetic modification can be reversed. Also of note, some of these genetic changes can be passed to future generations. Your lifestyle will impact your genes.
Think what early stress and trauma is doing to a young child whose brain is just developing. Adapting to early stress and trauma can put the child into an unhealthy trajectory in life. The restless, anxious, nervous, fidgety child may be misdiagnosed as ADHD, hyperactive, or having some type of conduct disorder. Neglect has been called the most damaging stressor. When neglected the child's brain does not get the appropriate stimulation that it needs to develop and grow. Neglect results in what is called neural atrophy.
Situations such as neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or a dysfunctional parent-child relationship, can result in what psychologists call attachment trauma. Attachment trauma involves significant impairment and disruption of the critical bonding between child and parent. If the care, nurturing, and safety needs of the child are not being met this is traumatic for the child.
Most of us have heard of PTSD. Complex-PTSD (C-PTSD) is not as well known. Regular PTSD can result from a single event like a car crash, being assaulted, seeing something really bad happen to someone else, etc. C-PTSD is different. It develops and is the result of something bad happening over and over again. Each event does not have to reach the level of trauma. It is the same bad thing or situation happening over and over again with no ability to escape or prevent it. In other words, the child may be exposed to prolonged emotional abuse, neglect, physical mistreatment, and more. Because it occurs in early development it can significantly impact the child’s entire development, thereby having a negative impact on into adult life. Personality and the ability to cope with whatever life throws at him or her will be affected.
When a child can use a parent as a source of support, protection, and as a safe haven, then what psychologists call secure attachment can develop with all the benefits. By definition, secure attachment involves a trusting, stable, and healthy parent-child bond. The child can develop positive self-esteem, and a better ability to cope with the ups and downs in life