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The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Danese, A; Moffitt, TE; Arseneault, L; Bleiberg, BA; Dinardo, PB; Gandelman, SB; Houts, R; Ambler, A; Fisher, HL; Poulton, R; Caspi, A
Published in: The American journal of psychiatry
April 2017

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.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.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.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.

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Published In

The American journal of psychiatry

DOI

EISSN

1535-7228

ISSN

0002-953X

Publication Date

April 2017

Volume

174

Issue

4

Start / End Page

349 / 361

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Violence
  • United Kingdom
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Risk Factors
  • Psychometrics
  • Psychiatry
  • Prevalence
  • Personality Assessment
  • New Zealand
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Danese, A., Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Bleiberg, B. A., Dinardo, P. B., Gandelman, S. B., … Caspi, A. (2017). The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(4), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030333
Danese, Andrea, Terrie E. Moffitt, Louise Arseneault, Ben A. Bleiberg, Perry B. Dinardo, Stephanie B. Gandelman, Renate Houts, et al. “The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians.The American Journal of Psychiatry 174, no. 4 (April 2017): 349–61. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030333.
Danese A, Moffitt TE, Arseneault L, Bleiberg BA, Dinardo PB, Gandelman SB, et al. The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians. The American journal of psychiatry. 2017 Apr;174(4):349–61.
Danese, Andrea, et al. “The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians.The American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 174, no. 4, Apr. 2017, pp. 349–61. Epmc, doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030333.
Danese A, Moffitt TE, Arseneault L, Bleiberg BA, Dinardo PB, Gandelman SB, Houts R, Ambler A, Fisher HL, Poulton R, Caspi A. The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians. The American journal of psychiatry. 2017 Apr;174(4):349–361.
Journal cover image

Published In

The American journal of psychiatry

DOI

EISSN

1535-7228

ISSN

0002-953X

Publication Date

April 2017

Volume

174

Issue

4

Start / End Page

349 / 361

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Violence
  • United Kingdom
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Risk Factors
  • Psychometrics
  • Psychiatry
  • Prevalence
  • Personality Assessment
  • New Zealand