Objective cognitive functioning in patients with stress-related disorders: a cross-sectional study using remote...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Stress-related mental disorders, such as adjustment disorder and exhaustion disorder, are frequently associated with self-reported cognitive impairment.
• Previous research on objective cognitive deficits in these populations has yielded inconsistent findings, highlighting a need for further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate objective cognitive functioning in patients diagnosed with adjustment disorder or exhaustion disorder compared to a healthy control group.
• To perform subgroup analyses comparing cognitive functioning between diagnostic groups.
• To explore the relationship between self-reported symptoms and objective cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study comparing cognitive test results from 266 patients (131 adjustment disorder, 135 exhaustion disorder) with a healthy normative group (184-692 participants).
• Utilized a digitally self-administered cognitive test battery.
• Employed one-tailed t-tests for group comparisons, ANOVAs for subgroup analyses, and regression analyses for symptom-cognition associations. Effect sizes were calculated.

Main Results:

• Patients with stress-related disorders performed significantly worse than the normative group across all cognitive measures, with small to moderate effect sizes (d = -0.13 to -0.57).
• Exhaustion disorder patients showed impairments on more measures than adjustment disorder patients, though no significant differences were found between the two patient groups.
• Self-reported memory issues showed a weak association with one memory test, and no clear link was found between self-reported burnout symptoms and objective cognitive function.

Conclusions:

• The study provides evidence for objective cognitive impairments in patients with adjustment and exhaustion disorders.
• Findings suggest a need for further research into the mechanisms underlying cognitive functioning in these populations.
• The weak correlation between subjective and objective measures underscores the complexity of cognitive assessment in stress-related disorders and the need for refined theoretical models.