Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Abstract

Childhood maltreatment is prevalent in the United States with around 558,899 children being victims of abuse in 2022 (U.S Department of Health & Human Services, 2024). Neglect is the most common form of abuse with around 74 percent of abused children being neglected; however, neglect tends to be the least researched form of abuse. Childhood maltreatment has long-term effects on a person’s mental, physical, and cognitive health. Previous research suggests that childhood maltreatment leads to severe deficits in executive functioning skills such as working memory and cognitive flexibility. Executive functioning skills are important for almost every aspect of life including mental health, physical health, quality of life, school readiness, school success, job success, marital harmony, and public safety (Diamond, 2013). The purpose of the present study is to further investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment on executive functioning in adulthood. Adults were asked to complete various instruments to assess cumulative trauma, severity of abuse, type of trauma, age of trauma, and levels of executive functioning in the areas of inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Results showed that cumulative maltreatment was the only significant predictor of self-report executive dysfunction. Additionally, when participants experienced both neglect and abuse they self-reported more EF deficits than when they experienced abuse without neglect. Finally, results did not support a significant difference between EF deficits when trauma occurred inside or outside a sensitive period of brain development. These findings support a compounding effect of multiple types of traumas. Adults with a history of neglect may not have adequate resources to adapt to other abuses and therefore perceive greater difficulty with functions such as planning and decision making. This study assists in our understanding of the impact of trauma of EF skills and may provide clinicians with a different avenue in which to focus treatment plans.

Keywords

Frontal Lobe Dysfunction, PsyToolkit, Polyvictimization

Advisor

Dr. Carol Patrick

Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Rights

© The Author

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