Traumatic events in childhood have an impact on adolescent health

There are situations that are not pleasant for anyone and that are hard to assimilate. For example, the death of a loved one or a serious economic misstep marks anyone and requires a mature mind to be able to overcome to this context. Therefore, the smallest, although it may seem that they do not understand what is happening, they are marked by these setbacks.

And not only emotionally as many have indicated studies. An investigation of the University of Washington has found a link between the traumatic events experienced in childhood and health problems during adolescence. One more reason to attend to the little ones when they go through situations that would mark anyone.


Regulation of emotions

The study of the University of Washington brought together 119 children between 3 and 6 years old. All these participants were followed over time to see how the children evolved based on the experiences that passed during the duration of the investigation. To this end, the situations through which they all passed were analyzed, placing emphasis on tragic contexts such as natural disasters, the death of a family member or hard economic setbacks in the family.

At the same time the children underwent tests to analyze the activity of their brain regarding the regulation of emotions. During the years that this research lasted, several of these tests were conducted in which it was shown that children who went through adverse situations were unable to handle the stress, something that ended up influencing mental and physical health.


This means that when reaching more advanced ages, as in adolescence, young people were unable to manage the typical stress of this stage: changes in the body, greater demands in the study, etc. Something that caused that these individuals did not know how to face these faces that arrived with time, letting themselves be carried away by the stress and all the effects it has for health.

Manage stress

You can not avoid situations traumatic, but you can teach young people to manage stress once they are teenagers. Here are some tips for this purpose:

- Attend to the notices. Stress is produced by the accumulation of tasks or adverse situations, in both cases there are always previous symptoms that can make us prepare the mind for this context.


- Teach to relativize. Stress makes people see problems bigger than they really are. Children should be taught to relativize everything and always value the context.

- The reality is what it is. Situations of stress make many think in hypothetical contexts, something that eludes the problems and young people feel stressed by seeing themselves like this and not as they have imagined.

- Relaxation techniques. Breathing belly, a piece of relaxing music, close your eyes and count to 10. There are many techniques, teach some to young people can help them.

- Go out on the street. Either to take a walk or to do some exercise, but sometimes leaving the 4 walls causes the level of stress to be reduced.

Damián Montero

Video: Complex Trauma and its Effects on Child Development


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