The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians.
Am J Psychiatry
; 174(4): 349-361, 2017 Apr 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27794691
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Individuals reporting a history of childhood violence victimization have impaired brain function. However, the clinical significance, reproducibility, and causality of these findings are disputed. The authors used data from two large cohort studies to address these research questions directly.METHOD:
The authors tested the association between prospectively collected measures of childhood violence victimization and cognitive functions in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood among 2,232 members of the U.K. E-Risk Study and 1,037 members of the New Zealand Dunedin Study who were followed up from birth until ages 18 and 38 years, respectively. Multiple measures of victimization and cognition were used, and comparisons were made of cognitive scores for twins discordant for victimization.RESULTS:
Individuals exposed to childhood victimization had pervasive impairments in clinically relevant cognitive functions, including general intelligence, executive function, processing speed, memory, perceptual reasoning, and verbal comprehension in adolescence and adulthood. However, the observed cognitive deficits in victimized individuals were largely explained by cognitive deficits that predated childhood victimization and by confounding genetic and environmental risks.CONCLUSIONS:
Findings from two population-representative birth cohorts totaling more than 3,000 individuals and born 20 years and 20,000 km apart suggest that the association between childhood violence victimization and later cognition is largely noncausal, in contrast to conventional interpretations. These findings support the adoption of a more circumspect approach to causal inference in the neuroscience of stress. Clinically, cognitive deficits should be conceptualized as individual risk factors for victimization as well as potential complicating features during treatment.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Violência
/
Maus-Tratos Infantis
/
Vítimas de Crime
/
Doenças em Gêmeos
/
Disfunção Cognitiva
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
/
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Psychiatry
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article