Patterning of individual variability in neurocognitive health among South African women exposed to childhood maltreatment
Date
2021-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nature
Abstract
There are individual differences in health outcomes following exposure to childhood maltreatment, yet constant individual variance is often assumed in analyses. Among 286 Black, South African women, the association between childhood maltreatment and neurocognitive health, defined here as neurocognitive performance (NP), was first estimated assuming constant variance. Then, without assuming constant variance, we applied Goldstein’s method (Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science, Wiley, 2005) to model “complex level-1 variation” in NP as a function of childhood maltreatment. Mean performance in some tests of information processing speed (Digit-symbol, Stroop Word, and Stroop Color) lowered with increasing severity of childhood maltreatment, without evidence of significant individual variation. Conversely, we found significant individual variation by severity of childhood maltreatment in tests of information processing speed (Trail Making Test) and executive function (Color Trails 2 and Stroop Color-Word), in the absence of mean differences. Exploratory results suggest that the presence of individual-level heterogeneity in neurocognitive performance among women exposed to childhood maltreatment warrants further exploration. The methods presented here may be used in a person-centered framework to better understand vulnerability to the toxic neurocognitive effects of childhood maltreatment at the individual level, ultimately informing personalized prevention and treatment.
Description
CITATION: Denckla, C. A. et al. 2021. Patterning of individual variability in neurocognitive health among South African women exposed to childhood maltreatment. Scientific Reports, 11:6669, doi:10.1038/s41598-021-85979-9.
The original publication is available at https://www.nature.com
The original publication is available at https://www.nature.com
Keywords
Adult child abuse victims -- Mental health, Women -- Mental health, Generations, Alternating, Mental health -- South Africa, Neurocognitive performance
Citation
Denckla, C. A. et al. 2021. Patterning of individual variability in neurocognitive health among South African women exposed to childhood maltreatment. Scientific Reports, 11:6669, doi:10.1038/s41598-021-85979-9.