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

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) can lead to neurocognitive deficits.
• Understanding these deficits in recent onset depression (ROD) is crucial for effective treatment.
• Adolescent and adult populations may experience MDD differently, impacting neurocognition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare neurocognitive performance in adolescents versus adults with ROD.
• To identify specific neurocognitive deficits associated with ROD in different age groups.
• To inform clinical practice and treatment guidelines for adolescent MDD.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of cross-sectional neurocognitive data from 650 participants in the PRONIA study.
• Principal component analysis to create an overall neurocognitive performance (NP) score from eleven tests.
• General Linear Model (GLM) to compare NP scores between healthy controls (HC) and ROD groups, and between adolescent and adult groups, controlling for medication and education.

Main Results:

• Patients with ROD exhibited significantly lower NP compared to HC (d = -0.29, p = 0.046).
• Adolescents showed significantly lower NP compared to adults (d = -0.29, p < 0.039).
• No significant interaction was found between ROD and age group, suggesting comparable neurocognitive impact across ages, with age and education explaining adolescent deficits.

Conclusions:

• The neurocognitive impact of ROD is similar in adolescents and adults.
• Lower neurocognitive performance in adolescent ROD patients is attributable to age and education effects.
• Neurocognitive impairment is under-addressed in adolescent MDD guidelines; recommend using Digit Symbol Substitution Test and Trail Making Test B for efficient monitoring.