Effects of childhood trauma in psychopathy and response inhibition.

Stacey A Bedwell,Charlotte Hickman

doi:10.1017/s0954579421001863

Stacey A Bedwell, Charlotte Hickman

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579421001863

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Abstract

Childhood trauma is linked to impairments in executive function and working memory, thought to underly psychological disorders including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Research demonstrates that childhood trauma can partially mediate posttraumatic stress disorder in those with executive function deficits. Despite a link with executive function deficit, psychopathy as a consequence of trauma is yet to be studied in this context. The present study investigates the possibility of a relationship between childhood trauma, psychopathic traits, and response inhibition. Eighty participants were tasked to completed the Childhood Traumatic Events Scale (Pennebaker & Susman, 2013), Levenson's Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (Levenson et al., 1995), and Flanker task of response inhibition (Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974). Scores of trauma exposure, psychopathic traits, and reaction times in the Flanker task were measured. Regression analysis revealed no significance for trauma exposure in predicting psychopathic traits (p = .201) and response inhibition (p = .183), indicating that childhood trauma does not strongly predict susceptibility to psychopathic traits or response inhibition deficits. These findings form an important basis on which to build a further understanding of the consequences of childhood trauma exposure, specifically in terms of understanding how specific cognitive functions may be influenced and providing a clearer understanding of how psychopathic traits develop.

Highlights

Research acknowledges that exposure to trauma during childhood may lead to long-term neurological (De Bellis, 2001), cognitive (De Bellis, 2001; Twamley et al, 2009), and psychological impairments (Op den Kelder et al, 2017)
To explore whether childhood traumatic experience is a significant predictor of psychopathy score, a linear regression analysis was applied (Table 1)
For those who experienced no trauma at all during childhood, the average psychopathy score on the Levenson’s Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP) was marginally smaller. This indicates a possible weak relationship between childhood trauma exposure and psychopathic traits. These findings indicate that experience of childhood trauma does not predict development of psychopathic traits

Summary

Introduction

Research acknowledges that exposure to trauma during childhood may lead to long-term neurological (De Bellis, 2001), cognitive (De Bellis, 2001; Twamley et al, 2009), and psychological impairments (Op den Kelder et al, 2017). A commonly studied potential consequence of childhood trauma exposure is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); A wide range of studies note the increased risk of developing PTSD as a result of childhood trauma exposure (Alisic et al, 2014; Malarbi et al, 2017; Op den Kelder et al, 2017). Research in this area is dominant in aspects of treatment, comorbidity, and prevalence rates. Bedwell and Charlotte Hickman may be more complex than that of a linear one and needs to be explored further

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