ABSTRACT
American studies have found that many children are exposed to potentially traumatic incidents, and that children often develop post-traumatic stress syndrome due to these experiences. The research has shown that being exposed to trauma early in life may affect the child’s biological, emotional, social, and cognitive functioning in both the short term and the long term. Research has also found that recurring experiences of pain in infants may have an adverse effect on the child’s neurological development. Hospital stays and visits for infants and young children are recurring causes of traumatisation. Placing a child in a residential institution or in a foster family is another area that involves a high risk of traumatisation. Hospitalisations and placements outside the home are recurring experiences for many children. In connection with both hospitalisations and placements outside the home, trauma prevention involves preserving the crucial sense of continuity in the child’s life.
