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Attention, memory, visuoconstructive, and executive task performance in adolescents with anxiety disorders: a
Rafaela Behs Jarros1,2,3,4, Giovanni Abrahão Salum1,2,4, Cristiano Tschiedel Belem da Silva1,4
1Programa de Transtornos de Ansiedade na Infância e Adolescência (PROTAIA), Serviço de Psiquiatria, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
|April 14, 2017
Summary
Children and adolescents with anxiety disorders performed similarly to controls on most cognitive tests. Mild anxiety was linked to better working memory, suggesting anxiety may not impair, but potentially enhance, adolescent cognition.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Child and Adolescent Psychology
Background:
- Anxiety disorders are prevalent in children and adolescents.
- The impact of anxiety on cognitive functions in this age group requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess cognitive performance in children and adolescents with mild and severe anxiety disorders.
- To compare their cognitive functioning with that of children free from anxiety disorders.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study included 68 participants aged 10-17 years (41 with anxiety disorders, 27 controls).
- Participants with anxiety were categorized into mild and severe groups.
- A neuropsychological assessment battery evaluated attention, memory, executive functions, and global cognitive functioning.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in most neuropsychological tests were observed between groups.
- Participants with mild anxiety showed superior performance on the Digit Span backward test compared to severe anxiety and control groups.
Conclusions:
- Anxiety disorders may not impair, but could potentially enhance, certain cognitive functions like working memory in adolescents.
- Cognitive functions appear largely preserved in adolescents with anxiety disorders.