Childhood perfluoroalkyl substance exposure and executive function in children at 8 years

AbstractThe negative effects of prenatal substance exposure on neurobiological and psychological development and of early adversity are clear, but little is known about their combined effects. In this study, multilevel analyses of the effects of prenatal substance exposure and early adversity on the emergence of neurobehavioral disinhibition in adolescence were conducted. Neurobehavioral disinhibition has previously been observed to occur frequently in multiproblem youth from high-risk backgrounds. In the present study, neurobehavioral disinhibition was assessed via behavioral dysregulation and poor executive function composite measures. Data were drawn from a prospective longitudinal investigation of prenatal substance exposure that included 1,073 participants followed from birth through adolescence. The results from latent growth modeling analyses showed mean stability but significant individual differences in behavioral dysregulation and mean decline with individual differences in executive function difficulties. Prior behavioral dysregulation predicted increased executive function difficulties. Prenatal drug use predicted the emergence and growth in neurobehavioral disinhibition across adolescence (directly for behavioral dysregulation and indirectly for executive function difficulties via early adversity and behavioral dysregulation). Prenatal drug use and early adversity exhibited unique effects on growth in behavioral dysregulation; early adversity uniquely predicted executive function difficulties. These results are discussed in terms of implications for theory development, social policy, and prevention science.

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Summary of Studies of Abused Infants and Children Later Homicidal, and Homicidal, Assaulting later Homicidal, and Sexual Homicidal Youth and Adults

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.104.1.17-45 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 104 (1) ◽

pp. 17-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Robert John Zagar ◽

Kenneth G. Busch ◽

William M. Grove ◽

John Russell Hughes

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Alcohol Abuse ◽

Sex Offenders ◽

Infants And Children ◽

Abused Children ◽

Social Maturity ◽

Substance Exposure ◽

Logistic Regressions ◽

School Records ◽

Parental Alcohol

To study the risks of abuse, violence, and homicide, 5 studies of groups at risk for violence are summarized. 192 Abused Infants, 181 Abused Children, 127 Homicidal Youth, 425 Assaulters, 223 Rapists, and 223 Molesters were randomly selected and tracked in court, probation, medical, and school records, then compared with carefully matched groups of Controls and (in older groups) Nonviolent Delinquents. In adolescence or adulthood, these groups were classified into Later Homicidal ( N = 234), Later Violent or Nonviolent Delinquent, and Later Nondelinquent subgroups for more detailed comparisons. Shao's bootstrapped logistic regressions were applied to identify risks for commission of homicide. Significant predictors for all homicidal cases in these samples were number of court contacts, poorer executive function, lower social maturity, alcohol abuse, and weapon possession. Predictors for the 373 Abused cases (Infants and Children) were court contacts, injury, burn, poisoning, fetal substance exposure, and parental alcohol abuse. Predictors for the 871 Violent Delinquent cases (Assaulters, Rapists, Molesters) were court contacts, poorer executive function, and lower social maturity. Accuracies of prediction from the regressions ranged from 81% for homicidal sex offenders to 87 to 99% for other homicidal groups.

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Looking Forward in Records of Youth Abused as Infants: Risks for Homicidal, Violent, and Delinquent Offenses

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.104.1.47-75 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 104 (1) ◽

pp. 47-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Robert John Zagar ◽

William M. Grove ◽

Kenneth G. Busch ◽

John Russell Hughes ◽

Jack Arbit

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Executive Function ◽

Alcohol Abuse ◽

Home School ◽

Control Group ◽

Control Groups ◽

Youth Court ◽

Substance Exposure ◽

And Control ◽

Parental Alcohol

To study risks for abuse and later homicidal behavior, 192 abused infants ( M age = 3.12 yr., SD = 1.48; 82 girls, 110 boys) and 192 controls were matched on demographics and examined; data discriminating abused and later homicidal cases were analyzed with Shao's bootstrapped logistic regression. Predictors of Abused status were injury, burn, poisoning, fetal substance exposure ( OR = 2.47), later parental or youth court contacts ( OR = 1.86e+12), and parental alcohol abuse (OR = .54; AUC = .99; 95% CI= .96−.99). Youth tracked through records 12 years (to M age = 12.17 yr., SD =1.89) were classified into Abused Later Homicidal (11%, n = 21), Abused Later Violent (14%, n = 27), Abused Later Delinquent (31%, n = 60), Abused Later Nondeliquent ( n = 44), and Control groups ( n = 192). Data were analyzed similarly. When the Abused Later Homicidal was contrasted with the Control group, predictors of homicide were three or more home/school moves ( OR = .78), illnesses ( OR = .90), and later court contacts ( OR= 1.75e+07; AUC=.99; 95% CI=.90−.98). When the Abused Later Homicidal was compared with the Abused Later Nondelinquent group, predictors of homicide were poorer executive function ( OR = 2.29) and later court contacts ( OR = 7.78e+06; AUC=.94; 95% CI= .90−.98).

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Executive Functions and Clinical and Academic Outcomes in Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-19-00143 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 1221-1230

Author(s):

Jane Roitsch ◽

Kimberly A. Murphy ◽

Anastasia M. Raymer

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Academic Outcomes ◽

Graduate Program ◽

Performance Outcomes ◽

Future Research ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

Grade Point ◽

Praxis Ii ◽

Language Pathology ◽

Preliminary Study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate executive function measures as they relate to clinical and academic performance outcomes of graduate speech-language pathology students. Method An observational design incorporating correlations and stepwise multiple regressions was used to determine the strength of the relationships between clinical outcomes that occurred at various time points throughout the graduate program (clinical coursework grades throughout the program and case study paper scores at the end of the program), academic outcomes (graduate grade point average and Praxis II exam in speech-language pathology scores), and executive function (EF) scores (EF assessment scores, self-reported EF scores). Participants were 37 students (36 women, M age = 24.1) in a master's degree program in speech-language pathology at a southeastern U.S. university during the 2017–2018 academic year. Results Findings of this preliminary study indicated that a limited number of objective EF scores and self-reported EF scores were related to clinical and academic outcomes of graduate speech-language pathology students. Conclusion As results of this preliminary study suggest that EF tests may be related to clinical and academic outcomes, future research can move to study the potential role of EF measures in the graduate admissions process in clinical graduate programs such as speech-language pathology.

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Clinical Decision-Making for Stroke and Aphasia in the Older Adult

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero14.1.4 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 4-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jacqueline Hinckley

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Cerebrovascular Disease ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Cognitive Profile ◽

Focal Lesion ◽

Cognitive Profiles ◽

Supportive Communication ◽

Spaced Retrieval

Abstract A patient with aphasia that is uncomplicated by other cognitive abilities will usually show a primary impairment of language. The frequency of additional cognitive impairments associated with cerebrovascular disease, multiple (silent or diagnosed) infarcts, or dementia increases with age and can complicate a single focal lesion that produces aphasia. The typical cognitive profiles of vascular dementia or dementia due to cerebrovascular disease may differ from the cognitive profile of patients with Alzheimer's dementia. In order to complete effective treatment selection, clinicians must know the cognitive profile of the patient and choose treatments accordingly. When attention, memory, and executive function are relatively preserved, strategy-based and conversation-based interventions provide the best choices to target personally relevant communication abilities. Examples of treatments in this category include PACE and Response Elaboration Training. When patients with aphasia have co-occurring episodic memory or executive function impairments, treatments that rely less on these abilities should be selected. Examples of treatments that fit these selection criteria include spaced retrieval and errorless learning. Finally, training caregivers in the use of supportive communication strategies is helpful to patients with aphasia, with or without additional cognitive complications.

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