Conceptualizing trauma for children of drug addicted mothers: a developmental mapping

Abstract

Children of drug addicted mothers are exposed to highly stressful experiences and experience high levels of psychological and emotional distress, alongside psychiatric nosology with multiple comorbid symptoms. The following study extends the work of Lombard, et al. classify the consequences of prolonged or ongoing trauma of children of addicted mothers using lifespan domains. Children of addicted mothers are often exposed to severe and ongoing events of trauma, or environments that are not conducive to adequate development, resulting in a complex array of comorbid and compounding physical and psychological problems. Results showed that the prevalence of trauma experienced by children were categorized as being from social and physical domains, with the emotional domain (reported neglect=26) also being high. These experiences resulted predominantly in behavioral problems and emotional problems. The most salient problems included a child who reported hearing the devil speak to them in an ongoing manner, two children reporting attempted homicides on siblings, and three children reporting hurting animals. Further research in capturing and detailing the extent of the trauma experienced and the resulting lifespan domain problems is necessary.