What Do You Know?
QUICK QUIZ ON THE TEEN BRAIN
1
TEEN BRAIN
The attribute most responsible for becoming and continuing to be involved with CSEC is .
2 The human brain is fully developed by the age of .
3
The center in the brain processing memory and emotional reaction is called the .
4 The portion of the brain conducting the brain’s executive functioning, in which sequencing and consequences are
considered, is called the .
5 The teen brain does not have a fully developed , which helps regulate emotional reactions.
6 Due to the developmental stage of their brains, teens do not know how to quickly predict or understand .
7
When teens do anticipate consequences, they tend to ignore negative ones. True or False (circle one)
8 Do most 14 year olds believe they are capable of making independent decisions? Yes or No (circle one)
9 The teen brain is most responsive to 10 Teens rank self-image above .
.
11 The teen brain is well-suited to self-regulate. True or False (circle one)
12 The teen brain is focused most on the future / money / their peers. (circle one)
13 How does the teen brain react to emotional stress and/or confrontation? 14 What is dissociation? 15 Two of the three most typical responses to trauma/stress are fight and flight. The third is .
16 Most abused children do / do not want to return to their parents. (circle one)
17 What are trauma bonds? 18 Most teens do / do not hide their social and emotional life from their parents and adult caregivers. (circle one)
19 Why do traumatized children fear authority figures instead of seek help from them? 20What mental health issues make children at risk of being manipulated by traffickers? P.O. Box 390174 • Cambridge, MA 02139 • 617.714.3789 • www.strategiesforyouth.org
What Do You Know?
ANSWERS: QUICK QUIZ ON THE TEEN BRAIN
1
The attribute most responsible for becoming and continuing to be involved with CSEC is
2 The human brain is fully developed by the age of
3
TEEN BRAIN
being a child .
25 .
The center in the brain processing memory and emotional reaction is called the
amygdala .
4 The portion of the brain conducting the brain’s executive functioning, in which sequencing and consequences are considered, is called the frontal lobe .
5 The teen brain does not have a fully developed
frontal lobe , which helps regulate emotional reactions.
6 Due to the developmental stage of their brains, teens do not know how to quickly predict or understand
positive and/or negative consequences .
7
8 Do most 14 year olds believe they are capable of making independent decisions? Yes or No (circle one)
When teens do anticipate consequences, they tend to ignore negative ones. True or False (circle one)
Are they? No. Their brain’s frontal lobe development is limited; they cannot anticipate future consequences or how to
evaluate the pros and cons of particular actions. This is why they are prohibited by law from making a range of decisions
involving money and elections.
9 The teen brain is most responsive to
peer pressure/saving face .
Recent studies by Dr. Lawrence Steinberg at Temple University, conducted with teens using functional MRIs, indicated that
12-14 year olds are the most susceptible to peer pressure and coercion. (This justifies the practice of many states of
requiring that a parent be present while police question youth.) Dr. Steinberg found that the younger teens brains
processed peer communication through the amygdala. The study also found that by the time youth turned 15, the impact of
peer pressure started to lessen and was processed more in the frontal lobe. The age at which most children are recruited
into sexual exploitation is generally 12-14, exactly when they are most vulnerable.
10 Teens rank self-image above
self-interest .
11 The teen brain is well-suited to self-regulate. True or False (circle one)
12 The teen brain is focused most on the future / money / their peers. (circle one)
13 How does the teen brain react to emotional stress and/or confrontation?
People “dissociate” or mentally separate themselves from the reality and pain of stressful physical and/or emotional
experience. Often, children will dissociate into an imaginary world to “get away” from traumatic experiences. Dissociation
is considered a maladaptive survival mechanism because it allows a person to endure terrible experiences.
14 What is dissociation?
Being coerced, pressured, pushed into activities that are harmful.
P.O. Box 390174 • Cambridge, MA 02139 • 617.714.3789 • www.strategiesforyouth.org
What Do You Know?
ANSWERS: QUICK QUIZ ON THE TEEN BRAIN
15 Two of the three most typical responses to trauma/stress are fight and flight. The third is
TEEN BRAIN
paralysis .
16 Most abused children do / do not want to return to their parents. (circle one)
17 What are trauma bonds?
“Also known as Stockholm Syndrome, trauma bonds occur as a result of cycles of abuse and rewards. After a period of
abuse, the victimizer will intermittently and unpredictably offer a reward–‘love,’ attention, a compliment, material goods.
The victim accepts the punishment and waits for the next reward. This cycle is hard to interrupt and creates powerful
emotional bonds that are resistant to change. Children who have grown up in this kind of relationship consider it normal.
Abandonment and trauma are at the core of addictions. Abandonment causes deep shame. Abandonment by betrayal is
worse than mindless neglect. Betrayal is purposeful and self-serving. If severe enough, it is traumatic. What moves betrayal
into the realm of trauma is fear and terror.
If the wound is deep enough and the terror big enough, the body alters. The system elevates into an alarm state, never
safe. Waiting for the hurt again. In that state of readiness the client doesn’t notice that part of them has died. The client is
grieving.
Like everyone who has loss, the clients have shock and disbelief, fear, loneliness, and sadness. Yet the clients don’t notice
because their guard is up. In their readiness, the clients abandon themselves. Yes, another abandonment….”
— Patrick J. Carnes, The Betrayal Bond, HCI Publishers, 2010.
18 Most teens do / do not hide their social and emotional life from their parents and adult caregivers. (circle one)
19 Why do traumatized children fear authority figures instead of seek help from them?
Children who have been traumatized often have attachment difficulties with their primary caregivers. They distrust their
own caregivers for either being the source of the trauma or for failing to protect them from the source of the trauma. In
either case, their authority figure has proved unstable and unreliable. Therefore, traumatized children and youth are going
to experience heightened distrust of authority figures whose roles explicitly claim to protect children. Traumatized children
are more likely to test, test, and retest authority figures to find the disappointment and failure to provide the parental
protection they have experienced most of their lives.
20What mental health issues make children at risk of being manipulated by traffickers?
Depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders (all three go together), learning disabilities causing repeated school failure, and
developmental disabilities.
Discussion Points: Trauma on a child’s brain can cause long term effects. It can cause stunted development, increased cortisol
levels, and, because the neural pathways are still being formed, children of trauma have more fight/freeze, flight response than
non-abused children. Trauma can also stunt the development of the prefrontal cortex which further delays the formation of
consequential thinking.
P.O. Box 390174 • Cambridge, MA 02139 • 617.714.3789 • www.strategiesforyouth.org