Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2024 Oct;246:105985. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105985. Epub 2024 Jun 22.
Previous studies have determined that exposure to risk and adversities may impair children's cognitive abilities. In particular, children engaged with Child Protective Services (CPS) seem to be at greater risk for enhanced detrimental effects resulting from the cumulative risk factors to which they are exposed. However, little is known about children's future thinking when they face adverse circumstances, and it is not clear how the associations among episodic foresight abilities, episodic memory, and executive functions work with children under such circumstances. The current study describes the episodic foresight abilities of CPS-involved school-aged children, its association with other cognitive abilities, and how this association is affected by the exposure to cumulative risk and adversity factors. Episodic foresight, episodic memory, executive functions, and a composite of cumulative risk factors were analyzed in a sample of 95 school-aged children engaged with CPS in Portugal. Results suggest the detrimental effect of cumulative risk on the episodic foresight abilities of CPS-involved children. Episodic memory and cognitive flexibility were significant predictors of episodic foresight abilities, and cumulative risk exposure moderated the relation between episodic memory and episodic foresight. The current study provides a better understanding of the influences of multiple adversities on CPS-involved children's episodic foresight abilities and related cognitive outcomes.
先前的研究已经确定，接触风险和逆境可能会损害儿童的认知能力。特别是，接触儿童保护服务（CPS）的儿童似乎面临着更大的风险，因为他们面临的累积风险因素会产生增强的不利影响。然而，对于儿童在面临逆境时的未来思维知之甚少，也不清楚在这种情况下，情景前瞻能力、情景记忆和执行功能之间的关联如何与儿童一起发挥作用。本研究描述了 CPS 涉及的学龄儿童的情景前瞻能力，及其与其他认知能力的关联，以及这种关联如何受到累积风险和逆境因素暴露的影响。在葡萄牙参与 CPS 的 95 名学龄儿童的样本中，分析了情景前瞻、情景记忆、执行功能以及累积风险因素的综合情况。结果表明，累积风险对 CPS 涉及的儿童情景前瞻能力有不利影响。情景记忆和认知灵活性是情景前瞻能力的重要预测因素，而累积风险暴露则调节了情景记忆和情景前瞻之间的关系。本研究更好地理解了多种逆境对 CPS 涉及的儿童情景前瞻能力和相关认知结果的影响。
