TPC-Journal-V5-Issue2

228 anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder or other developmental crises (see American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is important for counselors to consider trauma as a potential cause of symptomology among young children. Long-Term Consequences of Early Childhood Trauma Recently, researchers have focused on how trauma during early childhood impacts mental and physical health later in life. Symptoms of mental illness can manifest immediately after a trauma, but in some cases symptoms do not emerge until years later. PTSD, anxiety disorders, behavior disorders and substance abuse have all been linked to traumatic events experienced during early childhood (Kanel, 2015). The types and frequencies of traumatic events and whether they were directly or indirectly experienced also can have various effects on physical and mental health later in adulthood. In a review of literature, Read, Fosse, Moskowitz and Perry (2014) described support for the traumagenic neurodevelopmental model. This model proposes that brain functioning changes following exposure to trauma during childhood. These biological factors often lead to psychological issues and physical and mental health concerns in adulthood. Mental health professionals are often challenged to accurately diagnose PTSD in early childhood, leading to inconclusive reports of the actual prevalence of post-traumatic stress (De Young et al., 2011). Still, there is a clear relationship between PTSD diagnoses and trauma experienced in childhood. For example, higher rates of PTSD are reported among children residing in urban populations where neighborhood violence is prevalent (Crusto et al., 2010; Goodman et al., 2012). Briggs-Gowan et al. (2010) found an association between family and neighborhood violence exposure and oppositional defiant disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and substance abuse. Additionally, noninterpersonal traumatic events (e.g., car accidents, burns, animal attacks) are associated with PTSD as well as anxiety, phobias, seasonal affective disorder and major depressive disorder (Briggs-Gowan et al., 2010). Violence exposure is associated with externalizing problems while nonpersonal traumatic events are associated with internalizing problems (Briggs-Gowan et al., 2010). In a more recent study, Briggs-Gowan, Carter, & Ford (2011) found that exposure to neighborhood and family violence in early childhood is associated with poor emotional health and poor performance in school. Low socioeconomic status and traumatic events in early childhood also are correlated with low academic achievement in school (Goodman et al., 2012). Similarly, De Bellis, Woolley, and Hooper (2013) found maltreated children demonstrated poorer neuropsychological functioning and aggregate trauma was negatively related to academic achievement. According to Schore (2001a), children and adults who experienced relational trauma during infancy are often faced with the struggles of mental disorder due to right brain impairment (p. 239). More recently, Teicher, Anderson, and Polcari (2012) found exposure to maltreatment and other types of stress as a child impacts hippocampal neurons leading to alterations in the brain and potential developmental delays. Additionally, there is evidence of relationships between mistreatment, bullying and accidents in early childhood and the development of delusional symptoms in later childhood (Arseneault et al., 2011). Young children who experience trauma and later use cannabis in adolescence are also at a higher risk for experiencing psychotic symptoms (Harley et al., 2010). Other studies have shown a correlation between early childhood trauma and development of schizophrenia later in life (Bendall, Jackson, Hulbert, & McGorry, 2008; Morgan & Fisher, 2007; Read, van Os, Morrison, & Ross, 2005). Changes in the brain may mediate these relationships between trauma exposure and mental health, as suggested by Schore (2001a, 2001b) and others. Infants exposed to trauma are often inhibited by emotional and behavioral dysregulation in childhood and as an adult (Ford et al., 2013; Schore, 2001a, 2001b). Dysregulation resulting from trauma is predictive and related