INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 08 Program Schedule 02/16/2024 01:45 pm - 03:00 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 08: Cognition \| Cognitive Reserve Variables Final Abstract #51 Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Executive Dysfunction Within an Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Sample Katherine McManus-Shipp, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States Taylor Walker, William James College, Newton, United States Aimee Heinze, William James College, Newton, United States Caroline Nester, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, United States Karen Holler, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, United States Category: Executive Functions/Frontal Lobes Keyword 1: adolescence Keyword 2: childhood maltreatment Keyword 3: pediatric neuropsychology Objective: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are negative, potentially traumatic events that one may experience before the age of 18. Previous studies have found a robust general relationship between experiencing maltreatment and disruption of normative developmental trajectories resulting in poor executive functioning. The association of ACEs with executive dysfunction in inpatient psychiatric adolescents is not well characterized. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between specific ACEs and executive functioning utilizing data from a sample of adolescents hospitalized inpatient at a psychiatric hospital. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that ACEs would be correlated with lower levels of executive functioning. Participants and Methods: Adolescents on a psychiatric inpatient unit (N = 45, mean age = 15.04, 64.4% female, 62.2% White) completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-Q) and executive functioning measures, including the Adult Trails Making Test (TMT) A and B and the Stroop Color-Word Test (C-W). This clinical sample demonstrated an average full-scale IQ of 98.12 (SD = 12.44). The most common primary diagnosis was Major Depressive Disorder (53.3%). The sample reported a range of zero (44.4%) to seven (2.2%) prior suicide attempts and a total of one (62.2%) to five (4.4%) prior psychiatric hospitalizations. The ACE-Q is a self-report measure that includes ten potentially traumatic events that might occur in childhood. On TMT B, a measure of mental flexibility, participants completed a complex trail-making task wherein they maintain attention and switch between tasks via connecting alternate letters and numbers in ascending order. On C-W, a measure of inhibitory control, participants were timed and directed to report ink color of written words rather than reading the word itself. Our primary analyses were a one-tailed Pearson’s correlation to examine the association between total ACEs, individual ACEs, and executive functioning measures. Results: Our sample reported an average of 5 (SD = 2.24, range 0 to 9) ACEs. Total ACEs were not significantly correlated with C-W or TMT B. However, at the individual ACE level, living with a household member who was incarcerated, r(43) = -.29, p<0.05 (95% CI -1.00 to -.05), and feeling unloved or unsupported, r(43) = -.40, p<0.01, (95% CI -1.00 to -.16) were significantly negatively correlated with TMT B. Feeling unloved or unsupported r(43) = -.40, p<0.01 (95% CI -1.00 to -.16) was significantly negatively correlated with performance on C-W. Conclusions: Overall, our inpatient sample displayed a much higher number of total ACEs compared to the national average. We identified two individual ACEs which were significantly related to executive dysfunction in our sample. Feeling unloved or unsupported was the only item endorsed by adolescents significant at the p<0.01 level for both TMT B and C-W. These results suggest that evaluating ACEs at the individual level may provide valuable information for potential intervention targets in an adolescent clinical population with decreased executive functioning abilities.

Poster

02/16/2024
01:45 pm - 03:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 08: Cognition | Cognitive Reserve Variables

Final Abstract #51

Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Executive Dysfunction Within an Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Sample

Katherine McManus-Shipp, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States
Taylor Walker, William James College, Newton, United States
Aimee Heinze, William James College, Newton, United States
Caroline Nester, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, United States
Karen Holler, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, United States

Category: Executive Functions/Frontal Lobes

Keyword 1: adolescence
Keyword 2: childhood maltreatment
Keyword 3: pediatric neuropsychology

Objective:

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are negative, potentially traumatic events that one may experience before the age of 18. Previous studies have found a robust general relationship between experiencing maltreatment and disruption of normative developmental trajectories resulting in poor executive functioning. The association of ACEs with executive dysfunction in inpatient psychiatric adolescents is not well characterized. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between specific ACEs and executive functioning utilizing data from a sample of adolescents hospitalized inpatient at a psychiatric hospital. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that ACEs would be correlated with lower levels of executive functioning.

Participants and Methods:

Adolescents on a psychiatric inpatient unit (N = 45, mean age = 15.04, 64.4% female, 62.2% White) completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-Q) and executive functioning measures, including the Adult Trails Making Test (TMT) A and B and the Stroop Color-Word Test (C-W). This clinical sample demonstrated an average full-scale IQ of 98.12 (SD = 12.44). The most common primary diagnosis was Major Depressive Disorder (53.3%). The sample reported a range of zero (44.4%) to seven (2.2%) prior suicide attempts and a total of one (62.2%) to five (4.4%) prior psychiatric hospitalizations. The ACE-Q is a self-report measure that includes ten potentially traumatic events that might occur in childhood. On TMT B, a measure of mental flexibility, participants completed a complex trail-making task wherein they maintain attention and switch between tasks via connecting alternate letters and numbers in ascending order. On C-W, a measure of inhibitory control, participants were timed and directed to report ink color of written words rather than reading the word itself. Our primary analyses were a one-tailed Pearson’s correlation to examine the association between total ACEs, individual ACEs, and executive functioning measures.

Results:

Our sample reported an average of 5 (SD = 2.24, range 0 to 9) ACEs. Total ACEs were not significantly correlated with C-W or TMT B. However, at the individual ACE level, living with a household member who was incarcerated, r(43) = -.29, p<0.05 (95% CI -1.00 to -.05), and feeling unloved or unsupported, r(43) = -.40, p<0.01, (95% CI -1.00 to -.16) were significantly negatively correlated with TMT B. Feeling unloved or unsupported r(43) = -.40, p<0.01 (95% CI -1.00 to -.16) was significantly negatively correlated with performance on C-W.

Conclusions:

Overall, our inpatient sample displayed a much higher number of total ACEs compared to the national average. We identified two individual ACEs which were significantly related to executive dysfunction in our sample. Feeling unloved or unsupported was the only item endorsed by adolescents significant at the p<0.01 level for both TMT B and C-W. These results suggest that evaluating ACEs at the individual level may provide valuable information for potential intervention targets in an adolescent clinical population with decreased executive functioning abilities.