Committee Chair

Eschman, Bret T.

Committee Member

Shelton, Jill; Howell, Ashley

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Attentional control (AC) is an executive function referring to the ability to attend to pertinent information in the face of distractions. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are characterized by various forms of abuse and neglect experienced before the age of 18. Temperament is an early-appearing variation in attention-related self-regulation that is thought to be largely influenced by genetics. This study assessed the effect of ACEs on attentional control, the role of temperament as a protective/risk factor, and individual differences through eyetracking. Results showed no direct relationship between ACEs and attentional control, however, ACEs were consistently associated with higher negative affect and orienting sensitivity, as well as lower effortful control. Interactions between ACEs and negative affect, and orienting sensitivity, emerged in the relationship to efficiency cost on the antisaccade task. This study provides a novel view into adult temperament, as well as how adversity and temperament interact to shape attentional control.

Acknowledgments

Study was partially funded by the UTC SEARCH award.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2026

Subject

Attention; Stress (Psychology); Temperament

Keyword

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience; Attention; Adverse Childhood Experiences; Temperament; Neurobiological Risk and Resilience Factors; Eyetracking

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xi; 64 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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