Child and caregiver executive function in trauma-exposed families: Relations with children’s behavioral and cognitive functioning

Abstract

Children’s executive function (EF) may be negatively affected by their exposure to traumatic events. However, few investigations have examined the relations between EF and the associated developmental outcomes of young children exposed to trauma. Likewise, although growing evidence highlights intergenerational associations between caregiver and child EF, these associations remain unexplored among preschool-aged children exposed to trauma. The current study used a multimethod approach to test the direct and indirect associations of children’s trauma symptomatology, caregiver and child EF, and children’s concurrent behavioral and cognitive functioning in a sample of trauma-exposed, preschool-aged children (N = 109; Mage = 52.11 months, SD = 12.19) and their caregivers. Results indicated positive associations between children’s trauma symptomatology and their behavior problems, positive associations between caregiver and child performance on tasks of EF, and positive associations between children’s EF and a latent factor of cognitive functioning indicated by children’s performance on standardized tests of IQ and receptive vocabulary. However, the hypothesized indirect effects of caregiver and child EF were not supported. Implications for clinical interventions with young children and families exposed to trauma are discussed.