The purpose of this study is to verify relationship between the executive function and child abuse. The ultimate aims to provide understanding of abused children's europsychology and cognitive characteristics, and to contribute psychotherapy for abuse...
The purpose of this study is to verify relationship between the executive function and child abuse. The ultimate aims to provide understanding of abused children's europsychology and cognitive characteristics, and to contribute psychotherapy for abused children.
18 children for the abused group and other 18 for the non-abused group, totally 36 elementary school students participated in four executive function task: Stroop Test(for measuring inhibition ability), Word Fluency Test(for measuring cognitive flexibility at from the verbal side), Design Fluency Test(for measuring cognitive flexibility at from the visuospatial side), Retrieval Efficacy Test(for measuring ability of recall memory and recognition memory). And the comparison of executive function has been studied between abused children and non-abused children.
The results of the study can be summarized as followings;
First, there were a statistically significant differences between the abused group and the non-abused group in inhibition ability on the Stroop Test.
Second, there were no statistically significant differences between the abused group and the non-abused group in cognitive flexibility at from the verbal side on the Word Fluency Test.
Third, there were statistically significant differences between the abused group and the non-abused group in cognitive flexibility at from the visuospatial side on the Design Fluency Test.
Fourth, there were statistically significant differences between the abused group and the non-abused group in retrieval efficacy(only in ability of recall memory).
In conclusion, this study shows that the abused group is more impulsive and deficit in cognitive flexibility(at from the visuospatial side) and recall memory than the non-abused group. Therefore, psychologists must study harder about abused children's neuropsychology and cognitive characteristics, and also develop various psychotherapy and cognitive therapy programs to treat the abused children more efficiently.