Psychosocial deprivation, executive functions and the emergence of socio-emotional behavior problems

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

卷:7

Ross eVanderwert¹  Charles A Nelson¹  Charles H Zeanah³  Nathan eFox⁴  Sonya V Troller-Renfree⁴  Jennifer Martin McDermott⁵ 

[1] Boston Children's Hospital;

[2] Harvard Medical School;

[3] Tulane University School of Medicine;

[4] University of Maryland;

[5] University of Massachusetts;

关键词: Executive Function;    Institutionalization;    conflict monitoring;    Inhibitory Control;    error-related negativity;    event-related potential (ERP);   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnhum.2013.00167

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Early psychosocial deprivation can negatively impact the development of executive functions (EF). Here we explore the impact of early psychosocial deprivation on behavioral and physiological measures (i.e. event-related potentials; ERPs) of two facets of EF, inhibitory control and response monitoring, and their associations with internalizing and externalizing outcomes in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project(BEIP; Zeanah et al., 2003). This project focuses on two groups of children placed in institutions shortly after birth and then randomly assigned in infancy to either a foster care intervention or to remain in their current institutional setting. A group of community controls was recruited for comparison. The current study assesses these children at 8-years of age examining the effects of early adversity, the potential effects of the intervention on EF and the role of EF skills in socio-emotional outcomes. Results reveal exposure to early psychosocial deprivation was associated with impaired inhibitory control on a flanker task. Children in the foster care intervention exhibited stronger response monitoring compared to children who remained in the institution on the error-related positivity (Pe). Moreover, among children in the foster care intervention those who exhibited stronger error-related negativity (ERN) responses had lower levels of socio-emotional behavior problems. Overall, these data identify specific aspects of EF that contribute to adaptive and maladaptive socio-emotional outcomes among children experiencing early psychosocial deprivation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown