Executive Functioning as a Prospective Moderator of the Relations between Maltreatment in Childhood and Externalizing Symptoms and Wellbeing in Young Adulthood

Abstract

Childhood maltreatment is a major public health problem and associated with externalizing symptoms. However, not all individuals who have experienced maltreatment in childhood develop externalizing behaviors in adulthood. Though less studied, many who experience maltreatment achieve positive outcomes such as subjective wellbeing. Thus, longitudinal research that considers factors that may contribute to both positive and negative adjustment among individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment is critical. Executive functioning (EF) may moderate the association between maltreatment and psychosocial outcomes, as it is key to the development of self-regulation abilities, which may be compromised among individuals who experience maltreatment. The current study used a person-centered, latent growth-curve modeling approach to identify trajectories of (a) externalizing symptoms and (b) subjective wellbeing from late adolescence through young adulthood, determine whether types of childhood maltreatment and domains of EF are associated with initial levels and growth (slopes) of externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing, and investigate the potential moderating role of EF in the relations between childhood maltreatment experiences and externalizing symptoms and wellbeing over time. The current study is a secondary analysis of a sample of youth (N = 775; 69% male, 31% female; 76% White, 21% Black/African American, 3% multiracial) recruited based on the presence or absence of a lifetime diagnosis of substance use disorder or other mental health disorder in the biological father. I examined EF at baseline (ages 10 to 12), as well as retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment collected at age 25. Externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing were examined at multiple time points between ages 16 and 28. Results of latent growth curve modeling analyses suggest that experience of childhood maltreatment influenced baseline externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing. Certain domains of EF also were associated with baseline externalizing problems and subjective wellbeing, as well as rate of change in externalizing problems over time, though not in expected directions. EF variables moderated the relation between maltreatment and baseline levels of both outcomes and change in externalizing symptoms over time. Findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts to mitigate risk for externalizing problems and bolster positive adjustment.