Research examining the association between child sexual abuse and executive functions is limited. Yet, exposure to traumatic situations at a young age has been associated with changes in the prefrontal cortex, which hosts executive functions (). These functions are crucial for social adaptation, as they make it possible to inhibit maladaptive behavior and respond flexibly to the demands of the environment. As middle childhood is a sensitive period for the development of self-regulatory abilities, exploring executive functioning in school-age children could provide potential intervention targets (). Using multiple informants, this study compared executive functioning of sexually abused children to that of non-sexually victimized children and examined whether the differences were moderated by sex. The sample consisted of 225, 6-to-12 years old children with a history of child sexual abuse (CSA) and 97 children without a history of CSA. Children completed two executive functioning tasks measuring cognitive flexibility and inhibition. Parents and teachers completed questionnaires evaluating children's executive functioning. In comparison to non-abused children, children with a history of CSA displayed greater executive functioning difficulties as assessed by both informant-reported questionnaires and self-completed tasks. Significant interaction effects were found, such as CSA predicting lower inhibition and executive functions at school in boys but not in girls. This study is a first step in understanding the association between CSA and executive functioning and offers a clearer picture of the differential impact of sexual trauma according to children's sex.

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性虐待儿童受害者的执行功能：一项多信息比较研究

研究儿童性虐待与执行功能之间的关系的研究是有限的。然而，年轻时经历创伤性情况与负责执行功能的前额叶皮层的变化有关。这些功能对于社会适应至关重要，因为它们可以抑制适应不良行为并灵活地响应环境的需求。由于童年中期是自我调节能力发展的敏感时期，探索学龄儿童的执行功能可以提供潜在的干预目标（）。这项研究使用多名知情者，比较了遭受性虐待的儿童与非性受害儿童的执行功能，并检验了这种差异是否因性别而受到调节。样本包括 225 名有儿童性虐待 (CSA) 历史的 6 至 12 岁儿童和 97 名没有 CSA 历史的儿童。孩子们完成了两项测量认知灵活性和抑制力的执行功能任务。家长和老师完成了评估儿童执行功能的调查问卷。通过知情者报告的问卷和自我完成的任务评估，与未受虐待的儿童相比，有 CSA 病史的儿童表现出更大的执行功能困难。研究发现了显着的相互作用效应，例如 CSA 预测男孩在学校的抑制和执行功能较低，但女孩则不然。这项研究是了解 CSA 与执行功能之间关系的第一步，并更清楚地了解性创伤根据儿童性别的不同影响。