Does developmental timing of exposure to child maltreatment predict memory performance in adulthood? Results from a large, population-based sample.

Child Abuse Negl
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Although maltreatment is a known risk factor for multiple adverse outcomes across the lifespan, its effects on cognitive development, especially memory, are poorly understood. Using data from a large, nationally representative sample of young adults (Add Health), we examined the effects of physical and sexual abuse on working and short-term memory in adulthood. We examined the association between exposure to maltreatment as well as its timing of first onset after adjusting for covariates. Of our sample, 16.50% of respondents were exposed to physical abuse and 4.36% to sexual abuse by age 17. An analysis comparing unexposed respondents to those exposed to physical or sexual abuse did not yield any significant differences in adult memory performance. However, two developmental time periods emerged as important for shaping memory following exposure to sexual abuse, but in opposite ways. Relative to non-exposed respondents, those exposed to sexual abuse during early childhood (ages 3-5), had better number recall and those first exposed during adolescence (ages 14-17) had worse number recall. However, other variables, including socioeconomic status, played a larger role (than maltreatment) on working and short-term memory. We conclude that a simple examination of "exposed" versus "unexposed" respondents may obscure potentially important within-group differences that are revealed by examining the effects of age at onset to maltreatment.

Year of Publication
2016
Journal
Child Abuse Negl
Volume
51
Pages
181-91
Date Published
2016 Jan
ISSN
1873-7757
URL
DOI
10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.10.014
PubMed ID
26585216
PubMed Central ID
PMC4713298
Links
Grant list
P01 HD031921 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
K24 MH094614 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
L40 MH098379 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
K01 MH102403 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
U54 HD090255 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
P01-HD31921 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States