Neurocognitive dysfunction in adolescents with recent onset major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional comparative study

The aim of this study was to examine the neurocognitive deficits associated with the first episode of major depressive disorder (recent onset depression, ROD) in adolescents as compared to adult patients. Cross-sectional neurocognitive data from the baseline assessments of the PRONIA study with N = 650 (55.31% females) were analyzed. Based on a principal component analysis of eleven neurocognitive tests, we constructed an overall neurocognitive performance (NP) score. We examined mean score differences in NP between the groups of healthy controls (HC) and ROD and between adolescents (15-21 years) and adults (22-40 years) within a GLM approach. This accounts for unbalanced data with focus on interaction effects while controlling for effects of medication and educational years. Our results show lower NP for the ROD as compared to the HC group (d = - 0.29, p = .046) and lower NP for the adolescent group as compared to the adult group (d = - 0.29; p < .039). There was no interaction between these two group effects (F = 1.11; p = .29). Our findings suggest that the detrimental effect of ROD on neurocognitive functioning is comparable in adolescent and adult patients, since lower scores in adolescent patients are explained by effects of age and education. Neurocognitive impairment is an under addressed issue in clinical treatment guidelines for adolescent MDD. We suggest efficient monitoring in clinical practice by using an aggregate of the Digit Symbol Substitution Test and the Trail Making Test B, which highly correlated with the overall score of NP (r = 0.82).

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Journal
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Published
2024-11-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-024-02599-0
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.69

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article

Neurocognitive dysfunction in adolescents with recent onset major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional comparative study

Joseph Kambeitz, Leonardo Fazio, Maria Nobile, Marian Surmann et al.
2 citations
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
0.69
article

Neurocognitive dysfunction in adolescents with recent onset major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional comparative study

Joseph Kambeitz, Leonardo Fazio, Maria Nobile, Marian Surmann, Otto Turtonen, Anna Toivonen, Alessandro Bertolino, Ruth Milz, Stephan Ruhrmann, Christina Andreou, Nora Penzel, Ileana Andriola, Antti Luutonen, Giuseppe Blasi, Norman Kluthausen, Ashleigh Peng Lin, Christos Pantelis, Janina Paju, Marlene Rosen, Giampaolo Perna, Akseli Mäkela, Martina Wassen, Georg Romer, Sebastian von Saldern, Ifrah Khanyaree, Johanna Weiske, Anu Ellilä, Mirabel Pelton, Yanis Köhler, Karsten Blume, Sara Piccin, Maria Fernanda Urquijo-Castro, Amatya Mackintosh, Manuela Abraham, Lana Kambeitz‐Ilankovic, Stephen James Wood, Alexandra Nikolaides, Päivi Jalo, Chris Day, Matteo Balestrieri, Laura Egloff, Tiziana Quarto, Raffaella Romano, Julian Wenzel, Heikki Laurikainen, Alexander Denissoff, Erich Studerus, Markus Heinimaa, Giuseppe Cabras, Pavan Mallikarjun, Theresa Lichtenstein, Mauro Seves, Antonia Wosgien, Kelly Allott, David Popovic, Aylin Melo, Mariam Iqbal, Carlo Altamura, Carolina Bonivento, Tiina From, Moritz Spangemacher, Giulio Pergola, Armando D’Agostino, Nathalie Kaiser, Lorenzo Del Fabro, Alessandra Alciati, Marco Garzitto, Franco Fabbro, Henri Pesonen, Tuula Ilonen, Katharine Chisholm, Rachel Upthegrove, Francesca Bottinelli, Emiliano Monzani, Fabienne Harrisberger, Hans‐Jörg Wittsack, Adrian Rangnick, Maurizio Sberna, Shalaila S. Haas, Dennis M. Hedderich, Gerald Antoch, Paolo Brambilla, Olga Bienek, Udo Dannlowski, Letizia Leanza, Claudia Lenz, Raimo K. R. Salokangas, Andrea Falsetti, Marina Sangiuliano, Sonja Widmayer, Claudius Hoff, Adele Ferro, Timo Schirmer, Marta Re, Susanna Muckenhuber-Sternbauer, Tanja Pilgram, Camilla Krämer, Sonja Botterweck, Ana Beatriz Solana, Rachele Sanfelici, Dominika Julkowski, Linda A. Antonucci, Stefan Borgwardt, Marika Belleri, Alexandra Stainton, Renata Smieskova, Julian Caspers, Ana Tupac, Roberta Passiatore, Siân Lowri Griffiths, Reetta-Liina Säilä, Eleonora Maggioni, Ulrike Heitz, Nikolaos Koutsouleris, Rebekka Lencer, Ömer Öztürk, Anna Walter, Alkomiet Hasan, Marina Barone, Barbara Gelao, Grazia Caforio, Jörg Michael Müller, Eva Meisenzahl
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the neurocognitive deficits associated with the first episode of major depressive disorder (recent onset depression, ROD) in adolescents as compared to adult patients. Cross-sectional neurocognitive data from the baseline assessments of the PRONIA study with N = 650 (55.31% females) were analyzed. Based on a principal component analysis of eleven neurocognitive tests, we constructed an overall neurocognitive performance (NP) score. We examined mean score differences in NP between the groups of healthy controls (HC) and ROD and between adolescents (15-21 years) and adults (22-40 years) within a GLM approach. This accounts for unbalanced data with focus on interaction effects while controlling for effects of medication and educational years. Our results show lower NP for the ROD as compared to the HC group (d = - 0.29, p = .046) and lower NP for the adolescent group as compared to the adult group (d = - 0.29; p < .039). There was no interaction between these two group effects (F = 1.11; p = .29). Our findings suggest that the detrimental effect of ROD on neurocognitive functioning is comparable in adolescent and adult patients, since lower scores in adolescent patients are explained by effects of age and education. Neurocognitive impairment is an under addressed issue in clinical treatment guidelines for adolescent MDD. We suggest efficient monitoring in clinical practice by using an aggregate of the Digit Symbol Substitution Test and the Trail Making Test B, which highly correlated with the overall score of NP (r = 0.82).

European Child & Adolescent PsychiatryVol. 34(6)
University of Turku (FI), University of Sussex (GB), The University of Melbourne (AU), University of Cologne (DE), King's College London (GB), University of Basel (CH), University of Milan (IT), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico (IT), University of Oxford (GB), University Hospital Münster (DE), Orygen (AU), Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (DE), IRCCS Eugenio Medea (IT), University Hospital Cologne (DE), Melbourne Health (AU), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE), University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT), University of Birmingham (GB), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), University of Lübeck (DE), Politecnico di Milano (IT)
Universität Basel, Università degli Studi di Milano, Kela, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Universita degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Turun Yliopisto, Universität zu Köln, Università degli Studi di Udine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
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