Associations between neurocognitive functioning and social and occupational resilience among South African women exposed to childhood trauma.

Eur J Psychotraumatol
Authors
Abstract

: Prior research on adaptation after early trauma among black South African women typically assessed resilience in ways that lacked contextual specificity. In addition, the neurocognitive correlates of social and occupational resilience have not been investigated. : The primary aim of this exploratory study was to identify domains of neurocognitive functioning associated with social and occupational resilience, defined as functioning at a level beyond what would be expected given exposure to childhood trauma. : A sample of black South African women,  = 314, completed a neuropsychological battery, a questionnaire assessing exposure to childhood trauma, and self-report measures of functional status. We generated indices of social and occupational resilience by regressing childhood trauma exposure on social and occupational functioning, saving the residuals as indices of social and occupational functioning beyond what would be expected given exposure to childhood trauma. : Women with lower non-verbal memory evidenced greater social and occupational resilience above and beyond the effects attributable to age, education, HIV status, and depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms. In addition, women with greater occupational resilience exhibited lower semantic language fluency and processing speed. : Results are somewhat consistent with prior studies implicating memory effects in impairment following trauma, though our findings suggest that abilities in these domains may be associated with greater resilience. Studies that use prospective designs and objective assessment of functional status are needed to determine whether non-verbal memory, semantic fluency, and processing speed are implicated in the neural circuitry of post-traumatic exposure resilience.

Year of Publication
2017
Journal
Eur J Psychotraumatol
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
1394146
Date Published
2017
ISSN
2000-8066
DOI
10.1080/20008198.2017.1394146
PubMed ID
29163865
PubMed Central ID
PMC5687801
Links
Grant list
K24 DA040550 / DA / NIDA NIH HHS / United States