ABSTRACT
The concept of a complex relational childhood trauma is considered in the context of one special group of children. Understanding the critical interactions of neurodevelopmental and psychosocial processes in Internationally Adopted, Post-Institutionalized (IAPI) children is the current scientific frontier for researchers seeking to intervene in the effects of prolonged child maltreatment. Researchers and practitioners in the field of mental health came to understand that continuous repetitive traumatic experiences during childhood produce a wide range of distortions in development. The physiological components of Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) in IAPI children develop in utero and go on during the pre-adoptive years and beyond. The secondary trauma in IAPI children is social in nature. It is produced by adverse social circumstances: dysfunctional and abusive family, total abandonment, institutionalization, international adoption, and post-adoption stress. There are many factors in a life story of an IAPI child that cause, sustain, and contribute to the formation of DTD.
