Childhood Traumatic Experiences: New Clinical Perspectives and Interventions

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Background

Trauma and abuses experienced in childhood, such as bereavement, divorce, imprisonment of a family member, and physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, constitute elements of risk for development. Trauma might affect the psychophysical well-being of the future adult in social, familial, and affective domains. A traumatic event can be considered as a condition that is perpetuated over time within the family or social context, such as intra-family sexual abuse, or the loss or arrest of a parent who is missing. Trauma exposure and negligent caregiving can lead to psychological and behavioral problems, such as mood and eating disorders, PTSD and C-PTSD, traumatic grief symptoms, self-harm, aggressive and offending behaviors. New perspectives in research and clinical interventions are sought.


This Research Topic aims to explore how adverse experiences may compromise the development of children, adolescents and young adults. This may be through sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, loss and negligence of care, domestic violence, familial homicide, and criminal justice involvement. Research and proposals of clinical interventions and treatment programs are sought. Consideration of the effect of adverse childhood events on developmental and later behavioral outcomes is needed. This would include analysis of outcome variability according to different social and support settings. Manuscripts may be written from psychological, criminological, or sociological perspectives, addressing the human complexity of these issues and the difficulties presented for psychological interventions and social management of their presentation.


We are interested in the following article types: systematic reviews, original research, perspective, conceptual analysis and case study. The manuscripts should explore adverse and traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescents according to a developmental, social and clinical perspective. Specifically, potential authors should focus on psychological and social interventions, and clinical perspectives. This may be through analysis of case studies or original research on the topic.

Regarding the methodology of the original research, longitudinal and comparative studies are suggested which may use both quantitative and/or qualitative methods.

Keywords: Psychological trauma, Parental incarceration, Sexual abuse, Developmental and social risk factors, Clinical perspectives and interventions

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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