Effects of Violence on Executive Function: A Neuropsychological and Predictive Analysis in Victims of the Armed Conflict in Colombia

This research explores how exposure to Colombia’s armed conflict affects adult cognitive and emotional functioning. It compares 300 participants—150 victims and 150 non-victims—using neuropsychological tests such as the MMSE, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Tower of Hanoi, and Frontal Assessment Battery. Results show that victims demonstrate poorer planning, flexibility, and inhibitory control (β = –0.178; p = 0.024), with low educational attainment being the strongest predictor of executive deficits (β = –0.249; p < 0.001). Latent mean analyses revealed higher internal anxiety among victims despite lower raw scores, and machine-learning models confirmed that violence and structural inequality account for most of the variance in executive functioning. Overall, the study identifies a measurable cognitive imprint of violence, emphasizing the need for neuropsychological rehabilitation and social policies that restore decision-making capacity after trauma