It has been shown that children with a history of abuse tend to have a deficit in both their academic and cognitive abilities. Mesa-Gresa, P., & Moya-Albiol, L. (2011) [1]. This study aimed to identify the relationship between abuse (psychological, neglect, custody and abandonment) and the performance of executive functions of memory of verbal work and inhibition.

The Executive Function battery (Gonzalez, M., & Ostrosky, F., 2012) [2] was applied to 38 preschoolers 4–5 year olds who have experience abuse and to 36 preschoolers who have not. Data was analysed using the test t for independent samples and the Chi-cuadrado from Pearson.

Inhibition was affected in children with psychological abuse and negligence. It means that children presented difficulty in controlling their behaviour. Children victim of abandonment showed lower performance of executive functions of memory of verbal work. Such function allows them to carry on daily activities efficiently. Conversely, children without previous history of abuse showed higher performance in both tests especially in inhibition.

Findings suggest that child abuse in preschoolers can influence the performance in their executive functions without difference in gender.

The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.