Response to Stress and Trauma

Infants and toddlers may respond to stress and trauma in a number of ways and exhibit the following warning signs:

Infants and Toddlers - Birth to age 3:

• Chronic feeding or sleeping difficulties
• Inconsolable “fussiness” or irritability
• Incessant crying with little ability to be consoled
• Extreme distress when left with another adult
• Inability to adapt to new situations
• Easily startled or alarmed by routine events
• Inability to establish relationships with other children or adults
• Excessive hitting, biting and pushing of other children or very withdrawn behavior
• Flat affect

Preschoolers - ages 3 to 5:

• Engages in compulsive activities (e.g., head-banging)
• Throws wild, despairing tantrums
• Shows little interest in social interaction; withdrawn
• Displays repeated aggressive or impulsive behavior
• Has difficulty playing with others
• Communicates rarely, if at all; lacks language
• Has regressed and lost earlier developmental achievements

It goes without saying that a parent’s mental health can also have a significant effect on his or her child.  One’s ability to parent an infant or toddler responsibly and appropriately can be greatly impacted by conditions such as maternal depression and anxiety disorders. For example, infants of mothers who have severe, chronic, untreated depression often withdraw, which can have a negative impact on their physical, cognitive, and language development.  Often, older children who have mothers struggling with depression exhibit poor self-control, aggression, and poor peer relationships; they also have difficulty in school.