Disorders in the Executive Performance of Children Suffering Abuse

Child abuse is an adverse life experience that has important physical and psychological implications. This work studies the executive functions of children who have suffered abuse and whether there are differences in the executive functioning due to the different types of child abuse. The participants included 74 children between seven and 16 years of age suffering maltreatment. The results indicate that those suffering any type of abuse have difficulties in executive performance for activities related to cognitive flexibility, behavioural organisation, and planning and attention. There is evidence of significant differences between victims who experience physical abuse and those who experience physical neglect. The victims of physical neglect have greater difficulties in mental flexibility, inhibition of responses and alternation. This research contributes to the knowledge base needed to propose interventions that are aimed at developing functional skills in the children and which would allow them to have effective executive functioning. Intervention could be aimed at working on their capacity to take initiative, organise and plan activities, establish goals, adapt to changes, be more thoughtful and be able to analyse situations before acting, and on their rigidity of thought. ‘Studies the executive functions of children who have suffered abuse and … differences … due to the different types of child abuse’ Key Practitioner Messages The research shows the presence of alterations in the executive functions of victims of child abuse. There is evidence of difficulties in mental flexibility, establishing goals and attention control. The study highlights that the greatest problems in executive functions are found in victims of physical neglect.