Psychosocial deprivation, executive functions and the emergence of socio-emotional behavior problems

• Main Authors: Jennifer Martin McDermott, Sonya V Troller-Renfree, Ross eVanderwert, Charles A Nelson, Charles H Zeanah, Nathan eFox
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-05-01
• Series: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• Subjects: Executive Function; Institutionalization; conflict monitoring; Inhibitory Control; error-related negativity; event-related potential (ERP)
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00167/full

Early psychosocial deprivation can negatively impact the development of executive functions (EF). Here we explore the impact of early psychosocial deprivation on behavioral and physiological measures (i.e. event-related potentials; ERPs) of two facets of EF, inhibitory control and response monitoring, and their associations with internalizing and externalizing outcomes in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP; Zeanah et al., 2003). This project focuses on two groups of children placed in institutions shortly after birth and then randomly assigned in infancy to either a foster care intervention or to remain in their current institutional setting. A group of community controls was recruited for comparison. The current study assesses these children at 8-years of age examining the effects of early adversity, the potential effects of the intervention on EF and the role of EF skills in socio-emotional outcomes. Results reveal exposure to early psychosocial deprivation was associated with impaired inhibitory control on a flanker task. Children in the foster care intervention exhibited stronger response monitoring compared to children who remained in the institution on the error-related positivity (Pe). Moreover, among children in the foster care intervention those who exhibited stronger error-related negativity (ERN) responses had lower levels of socio-emotional behavior problems. Overall, these data identify specific aspects of EF that contribute to adaptive and maladaptive socio-emotional outcomes among children experiencing early psychosocial deprivation.