Executive Function and Communication in Children Who Have Experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences

Abstract

As research surrounding adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has moved past evaluating long term effects and is now progressing towards developing interventions, viable targets for intervention must be found. This research project examined the relationships between executive functioning skills, aspects of communication, and verbal comprehension and vocabulary with ACEs and with coping. In this study, data from 56 parent-child dyads surrounding experience of ACEs, executive functioning. verbal comprehension, communication, and coping were analyzed. Correlations between these variables were analyzed, and several significant correlations were found. These include the relationship between domestic violence and digit span (r = -.40, p < .01), working memory (r = -.31, p < .05), and auditory working memory (r = -.37, p <.05), and the relationship between parental Positive Mood and physical abuse (r = -.29, p < .05), emotional neglect (r = -.29, p < .05) and domestic violence (r = -.36, p < .01). After future research, these could potentially be avenues for future interventions.