Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34080760›Full record

ArticleDevelopmental science2021

Adaptation in the face of adversity: Decrements and enhancements in children's cognitive control behavior following early caregiving instability.

Andrea Fields, Paul A Bloom, Michelle VanTieghem, Chelsea Harmon, Tricia Choy, Nicolas L Camacho, Lisa Gibson, Rebecca Umbach, Charlotte Heleniak, Nim Tottenham

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Developmental science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. How childhood adversity affects components of decision making.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Andrea FieldsDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1363-4240
Paul A BloomDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Michelle VanTieghemDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Chelsea HarmonDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Tricia ChoyGraduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, California, USA.
Nicolas L CamachoDepartment of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, North Carolina, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3161-901X
Lisa GibsonDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Rebecca UmbachDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Charlotte HeleniakDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Nim TottenhamDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA.

Funding

Predicting Heterogeneous Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in School-age Children with Early Caregiving AdversitiesR01MH091864 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI MILHAM, MICHAEL PETER, TOTTENHAM, NIM · 2010 to 2022
$5.1M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH091864
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cognitive control is typically described as disrupted following exposure to early caregiving instability. While much of the work within this field has approached cognitive control broadly, evidence from adults retrospectively reporting early-life instability has shown more nuanced effects on cognitive control, even demonstrating enhancements in certain subdomains. That is, exposure to unstable caregiving may disrupt some areas of cognitive control, yet promote adaptation in others. Here, we investigated three domains of cognitive control in a sample of school-age children (N = 275, Age = 6-12 years) as a function of early caregiving instability, defined as the total number of caregiving switches. Results demonstrated that caregiving instability was associated with reduced response inhibition (Go/No-Go) and attentional control (Flanker), but enhanced cognitive flexibility (Dimensional Change Card Sort Task Switching). Conversely, there were no statistically significant associations with group (i.e., institutional care versus foster care) or maltreatment exposure and these patterns. These findings build on the specialization framework, suggesting that caregiving instability results in both decrements and enhancements in children's cognitive control, consistent with the hypothesis that cognitive control development is scaffolded by early environmental pressures.

Indexed as

CognitionFoster Home CareAdultBehavior ControlChildHumansRetrospective Studiesdevelopmentexecutive functionparentingspecializationstress

Identifiers

PMID34080760
PMCPMC8530827

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.