Neuropsychological functioning in children with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with deficits in the areas of verbal memory and learning, executive functioning, working memory, and attention in adults. Findings have been less consistent in the few studies examining neuropsychological functioning in childhood PTSD, which are often limited by comparing children with PTSD to children without trauma histories, making it unclear whether observed neuropsychological deficits are related to trauma exposure or to PTSD symptomatology. In an ethnically diverse sample of 62 children who witnessed intimate partner violence (n = 27 PTSD+ and 35 PTSD-), children with PTSD exhibited slower and less effective learning, heightened sensitivity to interference, and impaired effect of rehearsal on memory acquisition on the California Verbal Learning Test - Children's Version, a word list learning task. Both groups performed in the below average range on measures of executive functioning, attention, and intellectual ability.
Samuelson
Kristin W
KW
California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Francisco, CA 94133., USA. ksamuelson@alliant.edu
Krueger
Casey E
CE
Burnett
Christiane
C
Wilson
Christina K
CK
D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018579:Patient Selection; D012691:Serial Learning / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology