Doctoral Dissertation Research: Child Maltreatment: Eyewitness Memory and Executive Function

这项研究调查了虐待儿童是否与儿童目击记忆和执行功能(EF)的缺陷有关。在这项研究中，研究人员还调查了儿童年龄和虐待背景(虐待与非虐待)之间的潜在交互作用，作为对目击者记忆和EF表现的影响。此外，研究人员通过检测受虐儿童和非受虐儿童在情感唤醒条件下的男女争执的记忆，检验了情绪唤醒对目击者记忆的影响。此前关于儿童目击者记忆的研究主要集中在未受虐待的儿童身上。因此，人们对有虐待史儿童的目击者记忆知之甚少，尽管这类儿童经常受到当局的讯问(例如，在虐待儿童和家庭暴力调查中)。最近的研究表明，与对照组相比，虐待经历与EF表现的变化有关。此外，一些研究发现，EF(例如，工作记忆)能力可以预测儿童的目击记忆表现。在这个项目中，受虐待和未受虐待的9至15岁儿童完成了各种EF任务，包括工作记忆、反应抑制、注意力控制和认知灵活性的测量。每个年龄段/虐待类别的儿童中，有一半在完成记忆任务之前接触到情绪刺激(一男一女之间的争吵)，而另一半儿童将暴露在类似的、情绪中性的事件中。精神健康和精神创伤病史测量也包括在内。对于EF和目击者记忆测量，预测了年龄和虐待状况的主要影响，以及年龄-虐待状况的交互作用。进行中介分析，以调查虐待状态和目击者记忆之间关系的可能中介因素(例如，EF、状态焦虑和与创伤相关的精神病理学)。结果表明，情绪唤起刺激是否会对有(或没有)虐待史的儿童的目击者记忆表现产生不同的影响。

This research examines whether child maltreatment is associated with deficits in children's eyewitness memory and executive function (EF). In this study, researchers also investigate potential interactions between children's age and maltreatment background (maltreated vs. nonmaltreated) as influences on eyewitness memory and EF performance. Moreover, researchers examine effects of emotional arousal on eyewitness memory in maltreated and nonmaltreated children by examining their memory for an argument between a man and woman in an emotion-evoking condition. Previous research on children's eyewitness memory has focused primarily on nonmaltreated children. As a result, little is known about eyewitness memory in children with maltreatment histories, despite such children's frequent questioning by authorities (e.g., in child abuse and domestic violence investigations). Recent studies suggest that maltreatment experience is related to changes in EF performance relative to that of controls. Further, several studies find that EF (e.g., working memory) ability predicts children's eyewitness memory performance. In this project, maltreated and nonmaltreated children between 9 and 15 years of age complete various EF tasks, including measures of working memory, response inhibition, attentional control, and cognitive flexibility. Half of the children in each age/maltreatment category are exposed to emotion-evoking stimuli (an argument between a man and woman) prior to completing the memory task, whereas the other half will be exposed to a comparable, emotionally neutral event. Mental health and trauma-history measures are included. Main effects of age and maltreatment status, and an Age-Maltreatment Status interaction, are predicted for both EF and eyewitness memory measures. Mediational analyses are performed to investigate possible mediators of relations between maltreatment status and eyewitness memory (e.g., EF, state anxiety, and trauma-related psychopathology). Results will indicate whether emotion-evoking stimuli differentially influence the eyewitness memory performance of children with (and without) a history of maltreatment.