The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Cognitive Control Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prospective Studies

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are strongly associated with impaired cognitive control, yet research on ACEs’ effects across cognitive control domains—working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control—remains sparse. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the overall impact of ACEs on each of these cognitive control domains and explored moderating factors such as age, gender, cognitive control paradigms, and ACEs subtypes based on the dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology. A database search was conducted in SCOPUS, MedLine, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Only prospective studies were included to ensure temporal order inferences, with at least two data collection points, assessing ACEs at baseline (T1) and cognitive control during follow-up (T2). Thirty-two studies ( N = 26,863) producing 124 effect sizes were analyzed. Three-level meta-analyses revealed small-to-medium negative associations between ACEs and overall cognitive control ( g = −0.32), and in each domain: working memory ( g = −0.28), cognitive flexibility ( g = −0.28), and inhibitory control ( g = −0.32). The negative associations between ACEs and cognitive control were consistent across age, gender, and cognitive control paradigms. ACEs subtypes moderated the association with cognitive flexibility ( p = .04) but not working memory or inhibitory control. Specifically, the deprivation subtype exhibited a stronger negative association with cognitive flexibility compared to threat and threat-and-deprivation subtypes. These findings highlight the pervasive negative impact of ACEs on cognitive control across ages and emphasize the need for targeted interventions. Implications, current gaps, limitations in research, and future study recommendations are discussed.