Neurocognitive Problems in Children and Adolescents With Depression Using the CHC Theory and the WJ-III

Depression has been commonly associated with both subjective complaints and objectively measured problems in cognition. Most commonly discussed in relation to the adult population, growing evidence has supported the idea that children and adolescents experience cognitive problems in relation to depression. The purpose of this study was to further examine the negative influence of depression on the cognitive functioning of children and adolescents. Additionally, the present study evaluated the sensitivity of the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III-COG) and, in turn, the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory in measuring cognitive problems related to depression in children and adolescents. Participants included 420 children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years old (M = 13.09, SD = 2.95) with a clinical diagnosis of depression. Comparisons were made against the normative mean. All participants completed 11 subtests of the WJ-III-COG including Visual-Auditory Learning, Spatial Relations, Sound Blending, Concept Formations, Visual Matching, Numbers Reversed, Auditory-Working Memory, Picture Recognition, Analysis Synthesis, Decision Speed, and Memory for Words. Children and adolescents with depression demonstrated significantly lower performance on subtests related to learning and memory (long-term retrieval), attentional capacity, working memory, reasoning, and processing speed. No problems were noted on subtests related to visual-spatial thinking and auditory processing. Findings suggested sensitivity of the WJ-III-COG and CHC theory in identifying cognitive problems associated with depression in children and adolescents.