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Brief Report: Intact Cognitive Functions in Children and Adolescents of Parents With Mood Disorders

Mélanie Boisvert1,2, Jules R Dugré3, Stéphane Potvin1,2

  • 1Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.

Early Intervention in Psychiatry
|April 15, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Children whose parents have mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder (BD) or major depressive disorder (MDD), show intact cognitive function. A small difference was noted in males on one subtest, but overall cognition remained unaffected.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Mood disorders like bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) have a significant genetic component.
  • Understanding the impact of parental mood disorders on offspring neurodevelopment is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cognitive deficits in offspring of parents with mood disorders.
  • To assess 14 cognitive subtests while controlling for intellectual quotient, anxio-depressive symptoms, ADHD, and insomnia.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Healthy Brain Network biobank to recruit participants.
  • Identified three groups: offspring of parents with BD (n=44), MDD (n=87), and healthy parents (n=88).
  • Employed analyses of variance (ANOVA) on WISC-V and NIH Toolbox subtests.

Main Results:

  • No significant group differences were observed across most cognitive subtests.
  • A subtle effect indicated lower mental rotation scores in high-risk males compared to controls.
  • Cognitive performance was largely comparable between offspring of parents with mood disorders and controls.

Conclusions:

  • Offspring of parents with mood disorders exhibit generally intact cognitive abilities.
  • The findings suggest that parental mood disorders do not lead to widespread cognitive deficits in their children.
  • Further research may explore subtle sex-specific effects on specific cognitive domains.
Abstract

Keywords:
WISCbipolar disordercognitionmajor depressive disorder

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