What’s the Connection Between Childhood Trauma and Adolescent Suicidality?

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Is there a connection between suicide ideation in adolescence for children who have experienced trauma?

We know from the research that trauma has a significant negative impact on children that can contribute to mental health issues into adolescence and adulthood.

So, it would make sense that trauma would have a profound impact on adolescents if left unhealed.

To get a little technical (hang in there with me) - research has shown that childhood trauma can impact cortisol responses to stress and the development of a well-functioning HPA Axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis).

The thing to remember here is that an optimal way of functioning is for our body to be in a state of homeostasis (balance) and our body is constantly making adjustments to achieve homeostasis.

What the heck does all this have to do with the connection between childhood trauma and adolescent suicide?

Well, I went down the research rabbit hole again in preparation for my upcoming play therapy training about healing trauma. (I like to stay up to date with the latest research for my trainings 🤓)

I discovered a few interesting things about the body’s response to trauma and its connection to adolescent suicidality.

Since I love using a neuroscience and attachment lens when conceptualizing the roots of the problems experienced by children and teens, 👇

I looked at the latest research about childhood trauma and found an interesting study about childhood trauma and adolescent suicidality.

Want to know what I found?

Join me for this free weekly podcast!I’ll discuss what research says about childhood trauma and its connection to mental health issues, specifically from a neuroscience standpoint about how trauma impacts the body’s stress response.

I’ll also discuss how this is relevant for play therapists using play therapy to help young clients heal.

Citation for Research Articles:

Goltser-Dubner, T., Benarroch, F., Lavon, M., Amer, R., Canetti, Giesser, R., Kianski, E., Martin, J., Pevzner, D., Weinberg, B., Ben-Ari, A., Bar-Nitsan, M., Alon, S., Yshai, S., Lotan, J., GAlili-Weisstub, Segman, R., and Shalev, A. (2025). Childhood trauma cortisol and immune cell glucocorticoid transcript levels are associated with increased risk for suicidality in adolescence. Molecular Psychiatry, published online February 24, 2025. www.nature.com/mp

Buena, I. M., Szentagotai-Tatar, A., and Mui, A. C. (2017). Early-life adversity and cortisol response to social stress: A meta-analysis. Translational Psychiatry, 20177:1274. doi.10.1038/s41398-017-0032-3

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פרקים

1. What’s the Connection Between Childhood Trauma and Adolescent Suicidality? (00:00:00)

2. Intro (00:00:01)

3. Today's topic (00:00:55)

4. Trauma’s Long Shadow: What the Research Shows (00:05:16)

5. What Does This Mean for Us as Play Therapists? (00:20:37)

6. A Framework Helps You Stay Grounded (and Confident) (00:26:46)

7. Recap of today's discussion (00:29:03)

8. Resources - Trauma Training (00:34:24)

9. Outro (00:40:47)