The Impact of Early Life Trauma on Health and Disease, the Hidden Epidemic

Description

There is now ample evidence from the preclinical and clinical fields that early life trauma has both dramatic and long-lasting effects on neurobiological systems and functions that are involved in different forms of psychopathology as well as on health in general. To date, a comprehensive review of the recent research on the effects of early and later life trauma is lacking. This book fills an obvious gap in academic and clinical literature by providing reviews which summarize and synthesize these findings. Topics considered and discussed include the possible biological and neuropsychological effects of trauma at different epochs and their effect on health. This book will be essential reading for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, mental health professionals, social workers, pediatricians and specialists in child development.

Features

• The most comprehensive summary of recent and accumulated evidence for the impact of early life trauma
• An essential psychiatry text, written by internationally recognised experts and opinion leaders
• Covers an increasingly important and previously neglected area of psychopathology

Reviews

' … 'The topic of this book is important and the information presented is timely and extensive …'
The Journal of Psychological Medicine

Table of Contents

Part I. Early Life Trauma, Impact of Health and Disease

• Section 1. Childhood Trauma: Epidemiology and Historical Themes:
• 1. The history of early life trauma and abuse from the 1850s to the current time: how the past influences the present
• 2. The epidemiology of early life trauma
• 3. Historical themes in the study of recovered and false memories of trauma
• 4. Early life trauma, later outcome: results from longitudinal studies and clinical observations

• Synopsis

• Section 2. The Effects of Life Trauma: Mental and Physical Health:
• 5. Attachment dysregulation as hidden trauma in infancy
• 6. Towards a developmental trauma in infancy, early stress, maternal buffering, and psychiatric morbidity in young adulthood
• 7. Complex adult sequelae of early life exposure to psychological trauma
• 8. The relationship of adverse childhood experiences to adult health, well being, social function and health care

• Synopsis

Part II. Biological Approaches to Early Life Trauma

• Section 3. The Impact of Early Life Trauma: Psychobiological Sequelae in Children:
• 9. Translational studies of the effects of early life stress
• 10. Lateral asymmetries in infants' regulatory and communicative gestures
• 11. Neurobiology of childhood trauma and adversity
• 12. Neurobiology of neglect
• 13. Early life trauma as a risk factor for disease in adulthood

• Synopsis

• Section 4. The Impact of Childhood Trauma: Psychobiological Sequelae in Adults:
• 14. Early life stress and psychiatric risk/resilience: the importance of a developmental neurobiological model in understanding gene by environment interactions
• 15. Neuroendocrine effects of early life trauma
• 16. Long lasting effects of early life trauma on neurobiological circuits
• 17. Biological framework for early life related traumatic dissociation
• 18. The role of resilience in early life trauma

• Synopsis

Part III. Clinical Perspectives, Assessment and Treatment of Trauma Spectrum Disorders

• Section 5. Assessment on the Impact of Early Life Trauma: Clinical Science and Societal Effects:
• 19. Assessment of early- and mid-childhood trauma in adults
• 20. Memory and trauma: examining disruptions in implicit, explicit and autobiographical memory
• 21. Scientific progress and methodological issues in the study of recovered and false memories of trauma
• 22. The psychosocial consequences of organized violence in children

• Synopsis

• Section 6. Strategies to Reduce Impact:
• 23. The role of mentalizing in treating attachment trauma
• 24. Pragmatic approaches to stage oriented treatment for complex post traumatic stress and dissociative disorders
• 25. Cognitive behavioral treatments
• 26. Emotions and emotion regulation in the process of trauma recovery: implications for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder
• 27. Psychodynamic psychotherapy: adaptations for the treatment of patients with chronic complex PSTD

• Synopsis
• Epilogue
• Index.