Does post-traumatic stress disorder impact inhibition and flexibility functions beyond exposure to trauma alone? A systematic review of the literature

The goal of this review is to present a summary of studies investigating inhibition and flexibility abilities amongst adults suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we included and evaluated 52 studies investigating those executive functions in relation with posttraumatic stress symptoms. We explored three methodological axes that were used to assess executive functioning: standard neuropsychological tools, original computerized tasks and self-reported questionnaires. This review also aims to distinguish results that could be only specific to a clinical population from those who might be induced by the only confrontation of a traumatic event. Finally, we tried to clarify the links between executive functioning particularities and posttraumatic symptomatology.