Childhood trauma associated with worse impulse control in adulthood, U-M study finds

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uomh-cta012016.php

Public Release: 20-Jan-2016
Childhood trauma associated with worse impulse control in adulthood, U-M study finds
Abuse or neglect associated with worse executive function in adults, whether or not they have bipolar disorder
University of Michigan Health System

The scars of childhood abuse and neglect affect adults' brains for decades to come - including their ability to process and act on information both quickly and accurately, new research suggests.

That kind of quick "go or don't go" thinking is crucial to everyday situations like driving or rare events like reacting to an emergency. And it appears to be less accurate and more impulsive in adults who suffered physical, emotional or sexual trauma in their early years than in those who did not, the study finds.

The new findings about impulse control add to a growing body of evidence about the lasting scars that traumatic childhood experiences can leave.

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They set out to see if people with bipolar disorder had more impulsive and inaccurate responses on a quick task than others without the condition, as measured on standard timed tests called a "Go/No-Go" test. But to their surprise, they found no differences between the two groups.

Instead, when they looked closer, they found a common thread running through nearly everyone with more impulsive responses.

Among the more than 320 people in the study who took the tests, 134 reported a history of childhood trauma in surveys. This included physical abuse or neglect, emotional abuse or neglect, and sexual abuse. It did not include one-time traumatic events. None of the participants had active substance abuse issues, and the participants without bipolar disorder did not have other mental health conditions.

Those with bipolar disorder and a history of trauma performed significantly worse on the "Go/No-Go" test, than those with bipolar alone. But those without bipolar disorder who had a history of trauma performed just as poorly.

The test measures how well a person can stop himself or herself from reacting incorrectly to rapid prompts that sometimes require a "go" response and sometime require a person to hold back the impulse to respond ("no-go").

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While treatment recommendations vary, cognitive behavioral therapy -- a form of talk therapy -- can help even those whose childhood issues haven't been addressed formally for years, Marshall says. The self-control and self-talk that are key to CBT could help individuals build problem-solving techniques to assist their thinking and analytic abilities.

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