Neurocognition in adults with a history of mistreatment and victimizing events in childhood

Abstract

Continuous internal violence evens in a country increase the vulnerability of population since early ages.  Such events have short and long-lasting effects in the biopsychosocial development. This is the case of Colombia, a country that has been hard hit by social and public order conflicts in recent history. The present study was interested in examining the neurocognitive performance of a sample of 65 adults who live in the metropolitan area of Antioquia; with an age range between 49 and 91 years old, who were evaluated for exposure in childhood to abuse and victimizing acts in the context of socio-political violence. Specifically, the current study aims to analyze the relationship between traumatic experiences of abuse, victimizing events in the context of violence, and neurocognitive performance. For this, an observational, analytical, cross-sectional, and prospective study was carried out. The sampling was non-probabilistic, and the population was evaluated using the Neuronorma.Co neuropsychological battery and the Inventory of traumatic experiences in childhood - ETI-SRCo. For data analysis, Spearman's correlation coefficient was used. Finally, it was found that experiences such as general trauma, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and the experience of victimizing events of sociopolitical violence (displacement, kidnapping, extortion, extreme poverty, and total trauma) experienced in childhood, have significant effects on the neurocognitive processes, which last in the adulthood.