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Date of Graduation
Spring 2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of Graduate Psychology
Advisor(s)
Bernice Marcopulos
Abstract
Approximately 25% of children in the United States will witness or experience a traumatic event before age 4, and individuals with a history of trauma, particularly traumatic events in childhood, have a much higher likelihood of developing psychopathology in adulthood. Prior research indicates that the vast majority of individuals with a serious mental illness, particularly those in community mental health centers and psychiatric inpatient settings, have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. These individuals require special consideration in treatment planning, and a large range of neurodevelopmental and environmental factors must be taken into account when interpreting results of neuropsychological assessment. The current study examines the impact of both “dynamic” factors such as age and diagnosis as well as “static” factors such as trauma history and IQ on performance on two executive functioning measures in a psychiatric inpatient population. Results suggest that while performance is impacted by IQ for executive functioning assessments as a whole, factors such as a history of trauma, the type of traumatic events experienced, psychosis, and the presence of secondary gain may differentially impact performance depending on the specific cognitive functioning abilities being assessed (e.g., basic versus executive).
Recommended Citation
Richmond, Cathryn, "Traumatic experiences and cognition: How do static and dynamic variables contribute to current functioning?" (2015). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 38.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/38
