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

Poor maternal mental health is associated with a low degree of proactive control in refugee children

This study assesses the development of proactive control strategies in 100 Syrian refugee families (394 individuals) with 6- to 18-year-old children currently living in Turkish communities. The results demonstrate that children's age and their mothers' post-traumatic stress symptoms were associated with the degree of proactive control in their children, with worse mental health being associated with a larger reliance on reactive control and lesser reliance on proactive, future-oriented, control (measured via d' in the AX-CPT task). None of the following factors contributed to children's performance: fathers' experience with post-traumatic stress, parents' exposure to potentially traumatic war-related events, perceived discrimination, a decline in socio-economic status, religious beliefs, parents' proactive control strategies, or the education or gender of the children themselves. The association between mothers' mental health and proactive control strategies in children was large (in terms of effect size), suggesting that supporting mothers' mental health might have clear effects on the development of their children.

Early executive control buffers risk for adolescent psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a global impact on youth mental health, and there is a critical need for research examining individual factors that contribute to increased psychopathology during the pandemic. The current study explored whether executive control (EC) abilities in early childhood interact with COVID-related stress to attenuate risk for adolescent psychopathology during the first 6 months of the pandemic.

METHODS

Participants were 337 youth (49% female) living in a small midwestern city in the United States. Participants completed EC tasks when they were approximately 4.5 years old as part of a longitudinal study investigating cognitive development. At annual laboratory visits during adolescence and before the pandemic, participants (Mage  = 14.57) reported on mental health symptoms. In July and August of 2020, participants (Mage  = 16.57) reported on COVID-related stress and depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms.

RESULTS

COVID-related stress was associated with increased internalizing problems after controlling for prepandemic symptom levels. Further, the impact of COVID-related stress on adolescent internalizing problems was moderated by preschool EC, with higher levels of EC buffering the effects of COVID-related stress on adolescent internalizing problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the importance of promoting EC early in development, as well as screening for EC deficits and implementing targeted intervention strategies across the lifespan to help reduce the impact of stress on adolescent internalizing problems.

Childhood trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among adolescents: Role of executive function and life events stress

INTRODUCTION

Exposure to childhood trauma is found to increase internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents, however, the potential mechanism of this link remains underexplored. This study investigated the associations between childhood trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among adolescents, and tested the mediating role of executive function and the moderating role of life events stress in this relationship.

METHODS

Questionnaire data were collected from 952 junior students in Northwest China. Participants ranged in age from 11 to 15 years old (M = 12.88 years, SD = 0.72; 53% females). SPSS 26.0 was used to analyze the relationship between variables and examine the mediation model and the moderated mediation model.

RESULTS

Childhood trauma was positively associated with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among adolescents. In addition, executive function partially mediated the relations between childhood trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Life events stress was observed to moderate the relations between childhood trauma and executive function, as well as executive function and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, but the effect sizes were relatively small.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the role of executive function and life events stress in the association between childhood trauma and behavioral problems among adolescents.

The impact of the Regional Partnership Grant program on adult recovery and well-being, and child safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes

BACKGROUND

Adult substance use contributes to high rates of child maltreatment, adverse parenting, and poor child well-being outcomes. The Children's Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) program to improve safety, well-being, and permanency outcomes for children at risk of or in out-of-home placements because of caregivers' substance use.

OBJECTIVE

This study estimates the effect of the RPG program on adult parenting and recovery outcomes, as well as child safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

This study included samples from three RPG projects funded in 2014. A total of 437 families were included in the evaluation: 198 enrolled in RPG and 239 in the comparison group.

METHODS

Outcomes included both administrative data and standardized instruments collected at program entry and exit. Impacts were calculated by comparing regression-adjusted differences between RPG participants and a well-matched comparison group.

RESULTS

The RPG program showed two favorable and statistically significant impacts on adult outcomes: reduced trauma symptoms (ES = -0.25, p = 0.02), and depressive symptoms (ES = -0.25, p = 0.03). In addition, children enrolled in RPG had reduced behavior problems (ES = -0.31, p = 0.02) and reduced executive functioning deficits (ES = -0.31, p = 0.04). There were no significant impacts observed for child safety and permanency outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The RPG approach has produced several favorable impacts on key mental health needs of caregivers and children, establishing foundational evidence of program effectiveness. Additional evaluation research is necessary to understand the effectiveness on additional outcomes with a larger, more generalizable sample.