Executive Functioning and Health

Williams, Paula; Tinajero, Ruben; Suchy, Yana

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935291.013.75

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 241 publications

(217 reference statements)

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“…The present clinical experience suggested the idea that the bias which has slowed the access to psychological interventions put in place by colleagues all over the world so far can be at least partially explained by a lack of psychoeducation of health care workers [29]. According to cognitive-behavioral theories, coping with anxiety by suppressing disturbing thoughts can lead to a disturbance of "executive control" of behavior (the so called metacognitive ability); in these cases, perseverative worry and rumination are common and inflexible coping styles for stress and anxiety that fail to activate adaptive self-beliefs (such as "I know that my uncomfortable emotions are a normal reaction to an abnormal situation") and behaviors, such as psychological consultation [33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Care of Health Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Preliminary Report of an Occupational Health Department (AOUP) Responsible for Monitoring Hospital Staff Condition

et al. 2020

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The recent worldwide COVID-19 outbreak provided a timely demonstration of the mental health needs of health care workers on the front lines of the response to the pandemic. In addition to international guidelines, local institutions demand rapid and practical approaches easily replicable in different populations and contests. The principal aim of this paper is to highlight and share the experience of an Occupational Health Department responsible for monitoring hospital staff conditions during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic phase 1. The multidisciplinary team of the Occupational Health Department of a major university hospital in central Italy (AOUP) developed a specific protocol called PsicoCovid19 in order to provide targeted help, based on new psychosocial risk factors, to workers involved in the COVID-19 emergency to preserve hospital staff health. As of the date of this report, 106 workers (79 female, 27 male, mean age respectively, 51 ± 9.8, 45.7± 10.1) requested this service, reporting mild to moderate subjective distress. Approximately 81% of all the participants were already monitored before the outbreak of the pandemic. Among the total sample, 60% received a remodeling of a previous therapeutic program. Meanwhile, 7% passed from a psychiatric therapy to a combination therapy with the addition of a psychological treatment. The results demonstrate that those who asked for help were primarily female nurses who already presented with mental health vulnerabilities. A more gender-specific, clinical approach is needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Care of Health Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Preliminary Report of an Occupational Health Department (AOUP) Responsible for Monitoring Hospital Staff Condition

et al. 2020

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“…The fact that EF‐cognitive control was not associated with childhood trauma is at odds with past research. Specifically, past research has found associations between childhood trauma exposure and EF difficulties in adulthood (Gould et al, ; Nikulina & Widom, ); however, prior studies have predominantly used single measures of EF and, importantly, have typically not controlled for lower‐order component processes (for review of EF assessment considerations see Suchy, , ; Williams, Tinajero, & Suchy, ). Accordingly, inconsistent results in past research investigating the cognitive dysfunction correlates of childhood trauma are likely attributed to EF assessment heterogeneity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is accumulating evidence that the relationship between childhood trauma and poor health outcomes may derive from chronic activation of the physiological stress systems that together with epigenetic and genetic processes negatively impact important brain structures (e.g., pre‐frontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala,) implicated in executive functioning and emotion regulation (Cross, Negar, Powers, & Bradley, ; Danese & McEwen, ; Heim & Nemeroff, ; Pechtel & Pizzagalli, ; Tarullo & Gunnar, ). Deficits in executive functioning and emotion regulation in turn are risk factors for the development of psychopathology and health problems (Cross et al, ; Williams, Suchy, & Rau, ; Williams & Thayer, ; Williams, Tinajero, & Suchy, ). Indeed, previous studies have found that childhood trauma exposure is associated with poorer EF performance among children (Augusti & Melinder, ; Cowell, Cicchetti, Rogosch, & Toth, ; DePrince, Weinzierl, & Combs, ; Nolin & Ethier, ; Skowron, Cipriano‐Essel, Gatze‐Kopp, Teti, & Ammerman, ), adolescents (Kavanaugh, Dupont‐Frechette, Jerskey, & Holler, ; Kavanaugh & Holler, ; Mothes et al, ; Spann et al, ) and adults (Gould et al, ; Nikulina & Widom, ).…”

Section: Childhood Trauma and Executive Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reported history of childhood trauma and stress‐related vulnerability: Associations with emotion regulation, executive functioning, daily hassles and pre‐sleep arousal

et al. 2020

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Childhood trauma is associated with poor health outcomes in adulthood. Mechanisms for these associations are not well understood because past studies have focused predominantly on populations that have already developed physical and mental health problems. The present study examined the association between childhood trauma and stress-related vulnerability factors in a healthy adult sample (n = 79; 68% female, mean age = 27.5, SD = 6.5). Emotion regulation difficulties were examined as a potential mediator. Participants completed baseline laboratory assessments of reported childhood trauma, emotion regulation difficulties, prior month sleep quality, baseline impedance cardiography and behavioural tests of executive functioning (EF) and a three-day experience sampling assessment protocol that included sleep diary, reported and objective pre-sleep arousal, daily hassles and reported EF difficulties. Reported history of childhood abuse was significantly associated with difficulties in emotion regulation, self-report and objective pre-sleep arousal, diary-assessed sleep quality, daily hassles and reported EF difficulties. Reported history of childhood neglect was associated with greater pre-sleep arousal and poorer EF-behavioural control. Emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and reported pre-sleep arousal, daily hassles and reported EF difficulties. In conclusion, history of childhood trauma is associated with a variety of stress-related vulnerability factors in healthy adults that may be viable early intervention targets.

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“…One underexplored mechanism is executive functioning. Executive functioning has implications for health behaviour as well as for stress reactivity and recovery in the context of discrimination (Brondolo et al., 2018; Williams et al., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Racial discrimination and core executive functions

et al. 2021

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Researchers have theorized that exposure to racial discrimination may impair executive functioning. The limited existing data broadly support this notion and suggest that discrimination may exert acute and persistent effects on executive functioning, potentially because of the cognitive demands associated with responding to discrimination. However, it is unclear if discrimination is differentially associated with different core executive functions. Further, the effects may vary depending on the timing of exposure, as recent or acute exposure to discrimination may operate on executive functioning through different mechanisms than exposure across the lifetime. The current study evaluates the relations of both recent and lifetime exposure to racial discrimination to three core executive functions (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory) using a racially and ethnically diverse sample (n = 319). In fully adjusted models, recent discrimination was negatively associated with cognitive flexibility and working memory but not with inhibitory control. These data are consistent with the broader literature on acute stress effects on core executive functions and may have implications for understanding the effects of discrimination on health. Further research is warranted to understand the course and mechanisms of effects of lifetime and recent discrimination on core executive functions.

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Executive Functioning and Health

Cited by 12 publications

References 241 publications

Psychological Care of Health Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Preliminary Report of an Occupational Health Department (AOUP) Responsible for Monitoring Hospital Staff Condition

Psychological Care of Health Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Preliminary Report of an Occupational Health Department (AOUP) Responsible for Monitoring Hospital Staff Condition

Reported history of childhood trauma and stress‐related vulnerability: Associations with emotion regulation, executive functioning, daily hassles and pre‐sleep arousal

Racial discrimination and core executive functions

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