Effects of child abuse and neglect on executive functions among children diagnosed with learning disabilities or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Background: Studying cognitive deficits due to abuse and neglect in vulnerable children with neurodevelopmental disorders can fuel the battle to save them. We aimed to assess effects of child abuse and neglect on executive functions (EF) among children diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorders (SLD). Three hundred forty drug-naive children were divided into four groups according to their diagnosis. They have all been through history taking, clinical interview, assessment of exposure to abuse or neglect, Barkley Deficit in Executive Functioning Scale-Children and Adolescents (BDEFS-CA), and Conners and intelligence quotient (IQ) test. Results: Children with ADHD or SLD were significantly exposed to abuse and neglect showing significant executive dysfunctions. The mostly affected domains with abuse among ADHD were emotion regulation with effect size (ES): 0.576, self-restraint ES: 0.38 and self-motivation ES: 0.256, abuse was significantly associated with lower social class 63.6% ES: 0.377 while neglect was significantly associated with parents’ marital status of being divorced 92% ES: 0.621. Abuse and neglect were significantly associated with emotion regulation executive dysfunction with OR 23.5 and 22.8 respectively. Conclusion: Executive dysfunctions are significantly related to exposure to abuse and neglect. The most affected domains were emotion regulation and self-restraint executive functions. Also, we concluded that prevalence of abuse and neglect to be significantly higher in lower social class than average and higher classes and in divorced parents than married ones. Health education and early intervention programs should be directed more specifically to the more vulnerable children diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders and of lower social class or of divorced parents.