Executive functioning in children with posttraumatic stress disorder

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has known deleterious effects on children's developing brains, occurs in elevated rates in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). Few studies have examined the neuropsychological functioning of children with PTSD, and those studies did not have a comparison group of trauma exposed children without PTSD, leaving an open question as to whether the observed neuropsychological deficits are related to trauma exposure or to PTSD. The present study examined neuropsychological functioning in 18 children exposed to IPV with current PTSD and 18 children exposed to IPV without current or lifetime PTSD. Based on neuroimaging findings of prefrontal cortex dysfunction in children with PTSD, it was hypothesized that children with PTSD would show decreased performance on tasks mediated by the frontal cortex, including tasks of executive functioning, attention, and working memory. Contrary to hypotheses, children exposed to IPV with PTSD did not perform significantly worse on any measures of neuropsychological functioning than children exposed to IPV without PTSD. Results suggest that neuropsychological differences found in previous studies may be explained by the effects of trauma, rather than PTSD. Neuropsychological dysfunction is not an invariant feature of PTSD. The discussion also considers that cognitive deficits in children with PTSD do not arise until later in life. Significant findings in previous studies may have been driven by middle socio-economic class control groups with above average executive functioning. Limitations of the present study, clinical implications of the results, and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)