Questions to consider
1. Explain what is meant by ACE’s. How are they usually measured?
ACE's are Adverse Childhood Experiences. They are negative life experiences that may have an effect on a child's health and/or development. It is argued that a child has serious effects on health when there are four or more ACE's. They are usually measured by using a checklist in an interview, or by giving a survey.
This is problematic for a few reasons. First, there is the problem that is self-reported and retrospective. The memories cannot always be verified for authenticity and there may be some memory distortion. More likely, there could be repression of childhood events or, depending on the age at which something happened, it could be that there is no clear memory.
Another problem is that depending on the age of the child, there may be difficulties in explaining the situation due to language. Or it could be out of a fear that a family member will get in trouble, in the case of abuse.
2. What are the physiological effects of abuse and/or trauma on a child?
There are several potential answers to this question, including but not limited to: increased levels of cortisol which may result in hippocampal cell death or impairment; smaller brains - including smaller hippocampi and smaller frontal lobe development; psychosocial dwarfism as a result of lower levels of growth hormone; lower levels of oxytocin; lower levels of neurogenesis. All of these support Piaget's claim that biological development precedes cognitive development.
3. What are three strengths of Rutter’s Orphan study?
The study was both longitudinal and had a large sample size. The orphans' cognitive and social development was measured as they were adopted - meaning that the study is also prospective in nature. There was no clear selection bias in the study as the children were not given up for health reasons, but due to the general poverty in Romania. There are other studies that confirm the findings of the original study. The children were also ethnically similar to the parents, meaning that there was not a confounding variable of feeling different from the parents.
4. What is meant by the term “response-dose relationship?” For example, in the Rutter study, they found “there was a response-dose relationship between institutionalization and both cognitive impairment and attachment disorders.”
A response-dose relationship is a term used in abnormal psychology which indicates a positive correlation. So, in the Rutter study, the longer the children had been institutionalized, the higher their levels of cognitive impairment and attachment disorders.
5. What does the Koluchov case study teach us about resilience to abuse?
Koluchuv's study showed that the twins were able to catch up to the physical and cognitive level of their peers in a period of only two years. However, social development was delayed. It appears that physical development then precedes cognitive development - and this may then be necessary for social development. However, the study did not find that the children were able to develop trusting behaviours of their peers because the study was discontinued.
6. What does oxytocin do to the brain which may explain how it helps with resilience to trauma and prevention of PTSD?
Oxytocin inhibits the activity of the amygdala. This may result in an individual being more trusting of others by lowering the fear response. In addition, since the amygdala plays an important role in the creation of emotional memories associated with PTSD and trauma responses, oxytocin may play a role in the prevention of the creation of such powerful memories.
7. What are two limitations of Koan’s research on the role of a significant other and social support in coping with stress?
One limitation is that takes a reductionist approach to resilience. Simply noting amygdalar response in the brain does not necessarily predict resilience.
In addition, there is a question about the role that the fMRI itself may have played in amygdalar response from some of the participants. Fear of the machine itself - the noise and the claustrophobic nature of the tunnel - may lead to artifacts in the scanning.
In addition, it may well be that those people who are in a long-term and loving relationship may be resilient themselves - that is, it may be because they are resilient that they are still happy in a long-term married relationship. After all, relationships are not easy. So, it may not be the presence of their significant other that makes a difference as much as their own level of resilience. It is not possible to isolate these variables in the experiment.
Finally, the situation is highly artificial and may not be applied to real-life situations in which resilience could be demonstrated.
8. What is the physiological role of neuropeptide Y?
Neuropeptide y is part of the "brake" that stops the stress response of the HPA axis.
9. Studying the effects of trauma are problematic both for construct validity and transferability. Explain what is meant by this.
One of the problems of research on trauma is the ability to measure trauma. For example, although all of us assume that war is traumatic for children, all children will experience it differently. The same with divorce, domestic violence, poverty, and abuse. When looking at the role of ACE's on a child's health, not all adverse childhood experiences are equal. Trauma is not just the environmental trigger, but the way in which one processes and makes meaning out of that experience.
In addition, much of the research on trauma and deprivation uses a case study method. As the situations are often very different, psychologists need to look for similarities in order to determine the level to which a case study could be generalized to explain another case.
Thinking critically
A community has found that a young boy of 8 has been severely abused by his parents. He stopped going to school when he was 5, was severely beaten with no clear pattern of how to avoid punishment, and was malnourished.
1. What do you predict will be true about this boy?
2. His school is wondering what to expect over the next three years. What would you predict, based on what you know about deprivation, trauma, and resilience?
1. When discussing the child, students should think about what biological factors may affect him. For example, he may be smaller than his peers. He may also have difficulties with recall or cognitive processing. In addition, they should consider social development, including trust of peers or adults, the ability to take risks in the classroom, social skills and/or general attachment.
2. Based on the research in this unit, it could be expected that the child should catch up cognitively to his peers, but this will take time. The child may not be able to communicate effectively and may also be rather passive in early learning experiences. Because the child is smaller than peers, it is possible that he would be treated differently. Finally, it is possible that the child will continue to have difficulties with his peers or a problem with authority figures.
IB Docs (2) Team
The following questions test your understanding of trauma and resilience. For each question, try to answer the question before looking at the response in the hidden box.
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