Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and executive dysfunction among children and adolescents: A Latent Profile Analysis

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to examine the relationship between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and executive dysfunction in children and adolescents after psychological trauma. METHOD: Participants were 13,438 of children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years exposed to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. PTSD and dysexecutive symptoms were assessed using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for Children and the Self-Report Dysexecutive Questionnaire. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted using Mplus version 7.4. Subgroup differences in trauma exposure and quality of life were calculated using ANCOVA. RESULTS: A 4-class parallel model was found to best describe latent PTSD symptom profiles and executive dysfunction. Individuals in higher symptom groups showed more trauma exposure and lower quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: This LPA study shed light on the relationship between PTSD and executive dysfunction symptoms in children and adolescents. The correlation between PTSD and executive dysfunction was maintained after individual differences were taken into consideration. Our findings provide a new view on how PTSD relates to executive dysfunction and several suggestions for treating child and adolescent PTSD patients.