Childhood Trauma and Stigma

Abstract

Here we examine the relationship between childhood trauma and stigma in its different conceptualization models and provide a brief overview of seminal theories on trauma and stigma, their possible neurobiological correlates, main stigmatization models, and specific examples of coexistence of trauma and stigma in childhood and their self-devastating consequences. Childhood trauma obstacles the child’s developing sense of self, impairs psychological growth, diverts the allocation of blame, and undermines emotion regulation and modeling of constructive coping skills. In turn, childhood trauma victims’ representations of self, others, and the world are deeply compromised. Chronic traumatic experiences in childhood are internalized as dysfunctional allocation of blame and shame, resulting in self-blame and self-loathing. When victims feel bad and blameworthy, the experience of stigmatization arises. Adult survivors feel ashamed and stigmatized for their childhood adversities. The phenomenological experience of shame is a dejected, humiliation-based emotional state, in which the individual aspires to shrink and hide the exposed self. Several studies correlate shame with affective disorders and trauma sequelae: psychological distress following childhood trauma is related to how the victim evaluates the abuse and, in particular, to the degree of self-blaming experienced. In the peculiar scenario of childhood sexual abuse, victims are exposed to even higher risk for self-blame attributions and to experiencing shame. From this prospective, it is important to tailor therapeutic interventions on decreasing self-stigma in traumatized children.