Effects Of Transition On A Child

A child’s transition will be affected by many different physical, emotional, Physiological and intellectual states. Many factors will come into play and each will affect a child’s transition dependent on the individual child. These factors could vary between anything from the loss of a loved one to moving house. Factors such as the child’s personal experiences, medical conditions, environment changes and growth (puberty) will all contribute to the affect transition has on the individual.
The loss of a loved one will affect individuals regardless of age, however the severity of the impact will vary based on who the child has lost, which stage in their life the loss has occurred, the way in which the loss occurred and the events that led up to and follow the death.
The younger they are the less the immediate impact on that child will be, as children are more oblivious to the changes and, depending on how attached the child may have been to the parent, they have the tendency to adapt more to the change as they do not register it as a loss and are likely to forget the absent parent. However, as that infant transitions into young childhood the social dynamics that will come into play will then start to have an impact, the child will notice, or other children will start to notice and point it out. The child will then start to realise the absence of the parent, assuming the role of the parent has not been replaced and the other parent is still present. The older the child gets the more it will impact them as the more attachments they will have formed, thus making the loss a lot more present in the child’s life and having a spiral