Problem: Complex developmental trauma affects large numbers of children who have suffered from abuse, neglect, and/or deprivation. The effects often manifest in problems of attachment.
Methods: Researchers conducted therapeutic day camps for at-risk children to determine whether multimodal therapies could ameliorate the effects of complex developmental trauma. Two groups of adopted children (ages 3-9 and 10-14 years) with histories of trauma attended separate 3-week camps.
Findings: Data analysis indicated a positive correlation between negative attachment behaviors and deficits in sensory processing. Increased pro-attachment behaviors were found to have a significant relationship with pre-camp deficits in sensory processing.
Conclusions: These results are discussed in the context of systems theory.
Keywords: At-risk child; Trust-Based Relational Intervention; attachment; complex developmental trauma; early intervention; sensory processing.
© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.