Abstract
Background: Pre-hospital providers, such as paramedics and emergency medical technicians, are in a position to provide key emotional support to injured children and their families.

This e-pamphlet has been created to offer brief, relevant information to adults with childhood traumatic experiences. This information does not replace advice by a professional clinician or a national legislative body. Please seek support when reading this material triggers unpleasant feelings. This e-pamphlet will help you understand what childhood trauma is, what are its possible effects, what you can do to help yourself, and what you can do to get help from others.

It has been hypothesized that adult attachment representations guide caregiving behavior and influence parental sensitivity, and thus affect the child's socio-emotional development. Several studies have shown a link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reduced parental sensitivity, so it is possible that PTSD moderates the relationship between insecure attachment representations and insensitivity.

Background

Almost on a weekly basis, we are confronted by horrific images of children enduring

inconceivable traumas, such as the frequent school shootings in the US, the reports of

abducted girls being held captive for years, and the many children exposed to war in the

Middle East. On those days, we hug our children a little closer. We feel grateful for what

we have, and mourn what others have lost. What we do not think about are the countless

children who experience trauma just as distressing, but far too common to make headlines.