Memory for traumatic experiences in early childhood

Abstract

Traumatic experiences in early childhood raise important questions about memory development in general and about the durability and accessibility of memories for traumatic events in particular. We discuss memory for early childhood traumatic events, from a developmental perspective, focusing on those factors that may equally influence memories for both traumatic and non-traumatic events and those factors that may uniquely affect memories of traumatic events and possibly memory development generally. To obtain a more complete understanding of trauma-related memory, we draw on both the scientific and clinical literatures. These literatures indicate commonalities across memories for traumatic and non-traumatic events as well as potentially unique influences on trauma memory.