Literature Review
Defining attachment trauma
After reviewing the literature related to early attachment trauma manifested in conduct disorder symptomology, there appears to be a trend of definitions that pertains to early attachment trauma. Interestingly, it appears that the articles within this literature review never expressively used the term early attachment trauma. Instead, it appears that these researchers conceptualize early attachment trauma similarly but without expressively using the term. Gregorowski and Seedat (2013), conceptualizes early attachment trauma as developmental trauma, which is defined as the following:
Developmental trauma refers to exposure to multiple, cumulative traumatic events, usually of an interpersonal nature, …show more content…
This makes complete sense within a developmental context as an early traumatic effect(s) has an impact on current and future behaviors for an individual. Note that the emphasis here is placed on attachment and behavior. Interestingly, Vela (2014) brings a neurobiological/developmental perspective into the context of early attachment trauma. According to Vela (2014), early childhood trauma/abuse has an effect on a child’s limbic nuclei and circulatory development that results in maladaptive brain synaptic formation. Like the researchers mentioned before, Vela (2014) acknowledges the diversity of early traumatic occurrences and the developmental aspect that contributes to both maladaptive and conduct disorder related symptomology. This research study supports the observation that these researchers acknowledge both the diversity of early traumatic occurrences and the longitudinal/developmental impact early attachment trauma has on development. However, an acknowledgement needs to be made that within these research studies, early attachment trauma isn’t specifically stated within a theory but rather implied by researchers. As a whole, it appears that researchers focus on the specific traumatic events and assume the impact that it has on attachment without confirming
Defining attachment trauma
After reviewing the literature related to early attachment trauma manifested in conduct disorder symptomology, there appears to be a trend of definitions that pertains to early attachment trauma. Interestingly, it appears that the articles within this literature review never expressively used the term early attachment trauma. Instead, it appears that these researchers conceptualize early attachment trauma similarly but without expressively using the term. Gregorowski and Seedat (2013), conceptualizes early attachment trauma as developmental trauma, which is defined as the following:
Developmental trauma refers to exposure to multiple, cumulative traumatic events, usually of an interpersonal nature, …show more content…
This makes complete sense within a developmental context as an early traumatic effect(s) has an impact on current and future behaviors for an individual. Note that the emphasis here is placed on attachment and behavior. Interestingly, Vela (2014) brings a neurobiological/developmental perspective into the context of early attachment trauma. According to Vela (2014), early childhood trauma/abuse has an effect on a child’s limbic nuclei and circulatory development that results in maladaptive brain synaptic formation. Like the researchers mentioned before, Vela (2014) acknowledges the diversity of early traumatic occurrences and the developmental aspect that contributes to both maladaptive and conduct disorder related symptomology. This research study supports the observation that these researchers acknowledge both the diversity of early traumatic occurrences and the longitudinal/developmental impact early attachment trauma has on development. However, an acknowledgement needs to be made that within these research studies, early attachment trauma isn’t specifically stated within a theory but rather implied by researchers. As a whole, it appears that researchers focus on the specific traumatic events and assume the impact that it has on attachment without confirming