Special Issue "Child Trauma and Psychology"

Dear Colleagues,

The quality of the interactions established in the first years of human life is crucial and plays a significant role in the way we bond effectively and adapt personally and socially during adolescence and adulthood. Affective attachments mark the way in which people understand the world and regulate their emotions in the face of adversity. For this reason, the experiences to which a person is exposed in childhood and adolescence in the family, school or social environment have a significant impact on their later psychosocial adjustment. 

Thus, traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence may be related to a greater occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems. It is common to find that children and adolescents who have been exposed to adverse situations exhibit mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, reactive attachment disorder, behavioral or hyperactive problems, and even neurodevelopmental problems.

The aim of this Special Issue on childhood is to highlight recent developments and innovative insights into the emotional, behavioral and neurological impact of trauma in childhood and adolescence. We seek to expand knowledge about assessment instruments, explanatory variables, and treatment and prevention options in this area.

It is particularly oriented to adversity in childhood and adolescence, but also to children and adolescents exposed to protective measures. On behalf of the Editorial Office, we invite you to submit research papers and review articles for peer review and possible publication.

Dr. Laura Lacomba-Trejo
Dr. Francisco González Sala
Dr. Paula Samper-Garcia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• childhood trauma
• child psychology
• child and youth psychopathology
• reactive attachment disorder
• adverse childhood experiences
• children at risk