Effects of child abuse on early development
Introduction
The abuse of children during their infancy and early childhood results in negative impacts on their child development. It affects their brain development, cognitive development, academic achievement and social attachment. The effects of maltreating a child can be enduring into their teenage years and adulthood in terms intellectual, physical and psychological aspects.
Children’s negative experiences can have harmful effects on the development of their brain in regard to brain’s chemical activity and structural changes. Child abuse can lead to decreased brain size or problems in connectivity in sections of the brain. Such effects also concern the function of the person behaviorally and emotionally so that for instance, they become oversensitive to life situations that are stressful. When a child faces maltreatment in the hands of a caregiver, the brains is likely to be chronically hyper-alert to any danger or even fails to undergo full development. The child’s neuronal pathways whose development or strengthening is exposed to an abusive environment including their capacity to respond to extended kindness or nurturing can be impaired (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, 6). Children abuse exposes them to toxic stress that can affect their Hippocampus, Corpus Callosum, Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex parts of the brain. Hippocampus which is necessary in the learning process and memory may be less in volume, and Corpus Callosum that helps in various processes like inter-hemispheric communication may also decline in size (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, 6). In the adulthood, the abused children may have smaller cerebellum and prefrontal cortex that helps in behavior coordination, and emotional regulation and cognition respectively, becomes smaller. Moreover, amygdala, which assist in determining the threat posed by a stimulus and thus triggering emotional responses become oversensitive due maltreatment. Children who have been abused in institutional settings have been shown to have reduced brain’s electrical activity, low metabolism and inadequate connectivity between parts of the brain which are necessary in complex information complexity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, 6).
The effects of abuse on chemical activity and structure of the brain boils over to other functioning of the child, including emotional, behavioral and behavioral functions. The abuse related trauma or even adversity increases the risks of depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorder which are part of the many psychiatric challenges that the child may face (Font & Lawrence 537) . The mistreatment of the child can lead to challenges in emotion regulation which is part of their development and this can easily continue into their adolescence and adulthood. This can result in the child developing anxiety disorder and depression especially when one reaches his or her late adolescence. The abuse may lead to permanent changes in the child’s brain capacity to utilize serotonin (Font & Lawrence 537). This part acts as a neurotransmitter whose role includes production of well-being feelings and emotional stability. Cognitive problems can be observed in childhood education with grade repetition becoming common (Font & Lawrence 541). This means that such children will show low achievement in regard to their academic performance.
The abused children are more likely to show antisocial behavior in their development and such impacts are more so associated with parental neglect and deprivation. These children or youth undergo toxic stress which makes navigation of social situations and interaction with others quite difficult so that even adapting to various changes become hard. Eventually, these children may find themselves in trouble where they turn to substance abuse including drugs and alcohol or even adopt abusive behavior (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, 6).
Conclusion
Child abuse affects all of his or her development including physical, social, psychological and behavioral aspects. These children are exposed to toxic stress since the alteration of brain development reduces their ability to regulate emotions, interact well and obtain good performances in life. The impacts can extend into adulthood which can be seen in adoption of negative behavior such as substance abuse.
Works cited
U.S. Department of Health and Human Service .Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development. Children Welfare Information Gateway. 2015. 5-6
Font, Sarah A., and Lawrence M. Berger. "Child maltreatment and children's developmental trajectories in early to middle childhood." Child development 86.2 (2015): 536-556.
