Self-Regulation Capacities in Children Exposed to Trauma and Political Violence

Abstract

Continuous distress affects developing children in numerous ways and is especially consequential for children’s self-regulation abilities. During critical periods of brain development, children are especially vulnerable to the effects of trauma and violence. Exposure to trauma, including political violence, can drastically disrupt a child’s capacity for three domains of self-regulation that are crucial to healthy functioning: sensory regulation, executive functioning, and emotion regulation. Children’s self-regulation capacities are further influenced by parental regulation, which is reflected in relational emotion regulation and, at times, the subsequent manifestation of relational post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This chapter summarizes the effects of trauma and exposure to political violence on these domains of regulation and the influence of parental co-regulation in times of continual exposure to trauma and political violence. The chapter concludes with two examples of interventions aimed at enhancing regulation capacities in children facing prolonged exposure to political violence in Israel.