Childhood Traumatic Experiences Result To Poor Academic Performance And Behavioral Problems, Study Finds

Physical and psychological abuse as well as other traumatic experiences during childhood would obstruct the learning and behavior development of the children as early as their kindergarten years, according to a study.

Science Daily stated that the study was released by the researchers from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Published online in the journal Pediatrics, the study's findings and evidences add to certain data that indicate maltreatment and dysfunction within a home during early childhood put young children at-risk for poor health outcomes.

"Our study revealed that children in large urban areas across the country who were exposed to traumatic events in early childhood were at increased risk for learning difficulty and behavior problems by the end of kindergarten," Manuel E. Jimenez. MD, MS, the lead author of the study and the assistant professor of family medicine and community health.

The study involved 1000 children living in 20 large cities in the U.S -- assessing the data prepared by the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. The data include traumatic childhood experiences informed by the caregiver or guardian. It also contains the reports of the teachers regarding the children's academic performance and behavior in kindergarten. This is the level of preschool in which the social and academic skills of the children are shown to foresee their future achievements.

The record shows that more than half of the children had, at least, one traumatic experience, and about 12 percent of the total sample was subjected to three or more bad experiences. Furthermore, African-American children and children with a household income of less than $20,000 were exposed to at least one harmful experience.

The analysis of the researchers shows that the children who had more adverse experiences had below-average performance in social, behavior and academic. "There is also an increased aggression towards their behavior and inefficiency in their language and literacy skills," the researchers revealed.

In addition, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network shares that most neglected and abused children will have difficulty coping with relationships. They would have a hard time controlling their emotions, and most of the time would react violently. They would also have problems in making friends and identifying or even interacting with authority figures such as the police officers and the teachers, as well as in handling romantic relationships later in their adult life.

Watch this video that showcases how you can help the children who have encountered traumatic experiences at their very young age.