Childhood abuse and neurocognitive performance in adulthood: a preliminary study of executive functioning in offenders

Abstract

Childhood abuse has an important negative influence on long-term executive functioning performance. Although this has been studied in non-offenders (controls), few investigations have examined offender samples. The aims of this study were: to study the influence of childhood abuse history on adulthood executive functioning in offenders, and to examine whether executive performance is affected differentially by different abusive events. It was found that in comparison with controls (n = 17) and with non-abused offenders (n = 22), the abused offenders (n = 18) have poorer performance on psychomotor-cognitive processing speed and cognitive flexibility. In abused offenders, it was also found that physical abuse events primarily and significantly affected adulthood performance in these cognitive abilities. In conclusion, this study helps us to know, preliminarily, the neurocognitive profile of abused offenders and how different abusive events suffered in childhood (e.g. physical and emotional abuse) differentially affect executive functioning of this sample.

Keywords:

• childhood abuse
• executive functioning
• adult offenders
• neuropsychology

Acknowledgment

The author wish to give their appreciation to the “Secretaría General de Instituciones Penitenciarias” from Spain for help in the access to prisons.