The current research integrates Perry et al.'s (1995) traumatic stress theory, De Bellis et al.'s (1999a/1999b) developmental trauma theory, and Blair's (2010) contextual stress and executive function theory to investigate why exposure to chronic traumatic events in early childhood is often related to deleterious social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is considered a prototypic traumatic event for consideration in the present research due to IPV's chronic course and that young children are disproportionately exposed to IPV. The current study tested a novel model in which preschool-age children's executive functioning (EF) mediated the relationship between IPV exposure, dissociative and hypervigilant traumatic stress symptoms, and behavior problems. The study recruited 143 child-mother dyads from the local CACS Head Start preschools, which provided a sample of high-risk preschool-age children. Maternal and teacher report measures of the children's executive functioning and behavior problems were administered. Additionally, the children's executive functioning was assessed using developmentally sensitive lab-based tasks. Several notable findings emerged in the present study. Preschool-age children's traumatic stress reactions were differentially related to maternal and teacher reported behavior problems, such that greater levels of hypervigilance predicted teacher reported externalizing behavior problems, whereas greater levels of dissociation predicted both maternal reported internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were used to examine the underlying structure of the children's EF. Contrary to expectations, the children's EF was best explained by a single, global EF factor that was highly contextually dependent (i.e., at home, school, and in the lab), rather than the three hypothesized sub-components (i.e., attentional control, working memory, and inhibitory control). Dissociation predicted worse maternal reported EF, but no direct relationships between traumatic stress symptoms and either teacher reported EF or lab-assessed EF emerged. However, structural models testing whether EF mediated the relationship between IPV exposure, traumatic stress reactions, and behavior problems at home and schools revealed a more nuanced picture. Consistent with predictions, EF fully mediated the proposed relationships when EF and behavior problems were considered within a single context (e.g., at home or at school). Models evaluating the mediational relationship for EF and behavior problems measured across contexts (e.g., maternal reported EF and teacher reported behavior problems) offered mixed support for EF as a mediator. Results from the lab-assessed EF suggest that in novel environments, preschool-age children's hypervigilance may temporarily improve their EF performance on highly structured tasks, presumably due to increased physiological arousal. Overall, the pattern of results indicated that EF is an important mediating variable between exposure to IPV, traumatic stress symptoms, and preschool-age children's behavior problems reported at home and school. Clinical implications for the assessment of preschool-age children exposed to chronic family violence and future research directions are discussed.
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