The DOI matches its Crossref record; 124 of the 127 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Neuropsychological functioning of childhood trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis
Abstract
This study reviewed evidence for cognitive impairments in trauma-exposed children with and without PTSD. Twenty-seven studies were eligible for meta-analysis, totalling 1526 participants, including 412 trauma-exposed children (PTSD unknown), 300 children with PTSD (PTSD+), 323 children without PTSD (PTSD-), and 491 trauma-naive controls. Eligible studies mostly investigated familial-maltreatment trauma (k=22). Trauma-exposed children (PTSD unknown) performed more poorly overall than controls (d=-0.57). Cognitive deficits were seen in PTSD+ compared to controls, including a large effect size (ES) for general intelligence (d=-0.88), moderate ESs for language/verbal (d=-0.65), visuospatial (d=-0.53), information processing (d=-0.62), learning and memory (d=-0.67), and executive skills (d=-0.52). PTSD+ showed poorer general intelligence (d=-0.28) and visuospatial skills (d=-0.42) compared to PTSD-, whilst PTSD- showed poorer executive function (d=-0.23) and learning and memory (d=-0.61) compared to controls. In conclusion, trauma-exposed children showed cognitive deficits compared to controls, although greatest deficits were associated with PTSD diagnosis.
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“Meta-analysis has linked childhood trauma to cognitive deficits, with the greatest deficits among those with a PTSD diagnosis [118].”
From Separating the Signal from the Noise: How Psychiatric Diagnoses Can Help Discern Food Addiction from Dietary Restraint (2020) · cites this paper as [118]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Malarbi, S., Abu-Rayya, H. M., Muscara, F., & Stargatt, R.
- Affiliations
- Royal Children's Hospital (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Malarbi, S.
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-01
- Volume
- 72
- Pages
- 68-86
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2553975206
- Semantic Scholar
- 60f65cb935aa878c32163698e1ed38d0a2ac1b64
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 127
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, neuropsychological performance, cognitive impairment, general intelligence, executive function, learning and memory, visuospatial ability, information processing, family maltreatment, trauma-exposed children
- MeSH terms
- Child, Cognition Disorders, Humans, Learning, Memory, Neuropsychological Tests, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Executive Function
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