Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), executive function and attachment

Abstract

Studies conducted with children and adolescents suggest that long-term exposure to adverse events and the lack of emotional and psychosocial support can lead to complex traumatizing conditions (C_PSPT), providing difficulties that affect emotional regulation, cognition, interpersonal relationships and the constitution of identity. The aim of this essay is to reflect on about the cognitive, more specifically executive function abilities, emotional, and attachment dimensions in children, who have been exposed to the experience of violence.