2018/10/09 by Tracey Fay-Stammbach, Tracey Fay‐Stammbach, David J. Hawes +1 · 1 citation
Medicine · Psychology · #Child Abuse and Trauma #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
paper · doi:10.1080/09297049.2018.1530344
openalex publication_date 2018/10/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Despite the well-documented impact of early maltreatment on children's executive function (EF), there has been limited consensus about how to best assess this neurocognitive domain in high-risk, vulnerable preschool-aged children. Relevant studies have generally utilized either performance-based tests or caregiver ratings of EF, yet multi-method research has been rare. This study examined the EF profiles of preschoolers exposed to maltreatment, as indexed by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive function - Preschool Version (BRIEF-P), and investigated associations between caregiver ratings and performance-based measures (Happy-Sad Stroop, Tapping Test, and Dimensional Change Card Sort - DCCS) of EF in this population. Maltreatment status was further tested as a moderator of associations between these measures. Participants were (n = 107) children aged 4-5 years (M = 4.75; SD = 0.57; 39% female), with various levels of exposure to maltreatment. Children exposed to maltreatment were found to exhibit significantly more caregiver-rated deficits in EF than non-maltreated children, with greater fluctuations apparent across all scales of the BRIEF-P. Consistent with previous research in neurologically impaired children, there were only limited and weak to moderate correlations between BRIEF-P scales and performance-based measures of EF. Furthermore, maltreatment status was found to moderate the association between scores on the BRIEF-P Inhibit Scale and the DCCS, such that the association between these indices was weaker among children exposed to higher levels of maltreatment.