The Impact of Trauma on Young People: A Summary for Youth Workers and Educators

Perri Broadbent-Hogan - Saints Knowledge Institute - Director of Professional Learning and Training

Youth work is enhanced when its practice is trauma informed. Trauma Informed Practice improves youth workers’ capacity to respond to the particular needs of individual young people. This short paper summarises some key findings from a longer piece on creating trauma informed educational settings. I hope that it encourages you to find out more about trauma informed youth work.  

How does trauma impact on young people? 

When a child is impacted by trauma, this significantly affects brain development and, more specifically, the child’s ability to learn, develop socially and emotionally, and grow physically (Dods 2013; Green & Myrick 2014; Lynch & Simpson 2010; Perry & Szalavitz 2006; Stone & Bray 2015; Szalavitz & Perry 2010). Trauma overactivates the body’s stress response system, causing a considerably higher resting heart rate and a shifted baseline that is not an emotionally regulated state (Perry & Szalavitz 2006; Szalavitz & Perry 2010). Furthermore, trauma subsequently results in the prioritisation of skills required imminently for survival and the deprioritisation of skills not required imminently for survival. For young people exposed to trauma, the skills required for survival are repeated and therefore become more efficient, resulting in a heightened awareness of danger, rapid mobilisation in the face of threat and very well-refined self-protective behaviours (Blaustein 2013; Hertel & Johnson 2020). This also means that the identification of threat can be rapid and inaccurate, and it can simply be the suggestion of threat (real or perceived) that triggers an uncontrollable chain reaction leading to a heightened state (Blaustein 2013; Hertel & Johnson 2020). 

Alongside the prioritisation of survival skills is the deprioritisation of skills not required imminently for survival, as the brain inhibits the development of executive functioning and the skills required for learning (Hertel & Johnson 2020). These are the skills required to exert control over actions by delaying responses, anticipating consequences, evaluating outcomes and actively making decisions (Blaustein 2013; Hertel & Johnson 2020). The traumatised brain has prioritised rapid response and the need for survival over well-planned and thoughtful decisions. The flow-on effect for young people is decreased capacity for learning, reduced memory, dysfunctional and dysregulated socio-emotional functioning, inhibited ability to regulate behaviour, reduced ability to form and maintain meaningful relationships and inability to manage stress (Dods 2013; Gil 2010; Green & Myrick 2014; Lynch & Simpson 2010; Perry & Szalvitz 2006; Stone & Bray 2015; Szalavitz & Perry 2010). 

How can youth workers be trauma informed? 

It is important to note that most young people suffering from trauma will not show physical signs; more often than not, the trauma is represented through social and emotional behaviours that are categorised as antisocial (Dods 2013; Stone & Bray 2015). The speed at which young people enter a heightened state is due to the already heightened equilibrium their body is pre-programmed for. This means that even the smallest trigger can set off a chain reaction of events that often leads to hypervigilance, impulsivity and/or anxiety (Perry & Szalavitz 2006; Szalavitz & Perry 2010). Triggers are relational interactions such as eye contact, specific music, scents, phrases, words, voice tones or specific people; the behaviours that result from such triggers are often seen as erratic and unreasonable, but the reality for the young person is that they are often involuntary and uncontrollable (Perry & Szalavitz 2006; Szalavitz & Perry 2010). The mobilisation of the survival mode response can occur in an instant, without the young person even being aware what is happening. It is also not unlikely that the young person is unaware of the trigger and, while the resulting behaviours can be overt, they can also be very internalised and can leave the young person feeling incredibly confused about their current emotional state. 

One of the critical pieces of information to support your practice when working with young people exposed to trauma is that trauma can be ingrained in the brain, without the young person even knowing. While the young person may not even consciously remember the trauma, their body has not forgotten and will continue to respond in a way that can be uncontrollable and irrational, without perhaps being able to identify a cause. Often the most damaging impact is before the age of four, before children start recalling their first childhood memories (Perry & Szalavitz 2006; Szalavitz & Perry 2010). When young people respond in a way that seems irrational or antisocial, remember that all behaviour is functional and meaningful, it has a purpose, and young people are trying to evidence an underlying need (Blaustein 2013; Blaustein & Kinniburgh 2019). Always look for the underlying need and support a young person to identify this, as it will enhance the professional relationship and improve their capacity for reflection and regulation. 

Further Reading  

I hope this you found this summary useful. You can find the full chapter on trauma informed practice  HERE  along with other chapters on youth work practice. You can also check out the following paper on trauma informed youth work if you wish: 

Bainsborough, E., Ord, J., (2022) ‘Trauma Informed Practice: A solution to some of the problems of targeted youth work’, Youth & Policy (Accessed at https://www.youthandpolicy.org/articles/trauma-informed-practice/ on 18/3/2025)