While considerable research has been devoted to understanding the biological and neuropsychological sequelae of trauma exposure in adults, little research has been conducted to examine these processes in traumatized children. The primary aim of the proposed study is to test the relation between children's exposure to interparental aggression (IPA), posttraumatic symptomatology and physiological arousal, and explicit memory. It is hypothesized that children exposed to IPA will show poorer explicit memory than non-exposed children for neutral information presented in a neutral learning context. Within the exposed group, it is hypothesized that posttraumatic symptomatology and physiological arousal will partially mediate the relation between IPA exposure and memory performance. The proposed study will also examine children's explicit memory in an IPA-primed learning context. It is expected that children exposed to IPA will show greater physiological reactivity than control children in an IPA-primed condition and that, within the exposed group, physiological reactivity will mediate the relation between IPA exposure and memory performance. Two groups of children (aged 7-11}, and their mothers will participate: 1) children exposed to IPA and 2) control children, matched on important demographic variables. If hypotheses are supported, children exposed to IPA could be at significant risk for problems with learning and memory. As such, early identification and intervention programs could be designed to prevent the development of such problems.
