Infantile trauma: representations of self, others and relationships and problematic behaviours in maltreated children.

Literature suggests that different types of early traumatic experiences (such as child maltreatment) have an impact on children’s psychological well-being, especially, in terms of understanding and expectations of relationships, representations of self and others and on their emotion regulation. This can influence their attachment pattern and their emotional and behavioural development. Narrative tasks, such as the Story Stem Assessment Profile, offer the children an opportunity to express their expectations about themselves, others and relationships, especially attachment relationships (Hodges & Steele, 2000; Hodges, Steele, Kaniuk, Hillman & Asquith, 2009). An area of research tha…