Executive function in children in residential care

The development of executive function (EF), which is responsible for goal-directed behavior and decision-making, may be affected by early experiences such as institutionalization. Previous studies indicate that early and... [ view full abstract ]

The development of executive function (EF), which is responsible for goal-directed behavior and decision-making, may be affected by early experiences such as institutionalization. Previous studies indicate that early and prolonged institutionalization is related with serious neurobiological sequelae, in particular, metabolic deficits in areas of the brain involved in higher cognition, emotion and emotion regulation (Zeanah et al., 2003). Impaired EF has been found in older post-institutionalized children, suggesting long-term difficulties with EF (Pollak et al., 2010). Most of the existing evidence refers to post-institutionalized children, typically after institutional experiences in Easter Europe. In contrast, data to be reported in this presentation refer to children who were still in institutions at the time of study, and who were living in Spanish residential settings.
In this study, EF performance was examined in 9 to 13-years-old children who were institutionalized in foster centers in Seville (Spain), compared with a group of 38 children matched by age and with no experience of adversity or institutionalization. EF was assessed using four tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB): Rapid Visual Information Processing (executive attention), Stockings of Cambridge (spatial planning), Stop Signal Task (response inhibition) and Spatial Working Memory (spatial working memory). These tests were always performed in the same order and lasted approximately 60 minutes.
Data showed that children in residential care had lower scores in planning and working memory, in comparison with the control group. However, institutionalized children obtained similar scores in executive attention and response inhibition. These results will be discussed considering the influence of early experiences on EF (age at institutional entrance, duration of institutionalization). These data imply that EF may be negatively influenced by institutional care, although the heterogeneity in outcomes suggests deficits in some EF areas and normative results in others.