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McGuire R, Halligan SL, Schweizer S, Leung JT, Hiller RM. Cognitive and affective control for adolescents in care versus their peers: implications for mental health. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 2023; 17:128. [PMID: 37946284 PMCID: PMC10636895 DOI: 10.1186/s13034-023-00668-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Many adolescents who have been removed from the care of their biological parent(s) and placed in State or Local Authority care have experienced significant adversity, including high rates of maltreatment and other trauma(s). As a group, these young people experience far higher rates of mental health difficulties compared to their peers. While their mental health outcomes are well-documented, little is known about mechanisms that may drive this. One potential mechanism, linked to both trauma and adversity exposure and mental health, is affective control (the application of cognitive control in affective contexts). METHODS We compared cognitive and affective control in 71 adolescents (65% girls) in care aged 11-18 (M = 14.82, SD = 2.10) and 71 age and gender-matched peers aged 11-19 years (M = 14.75, SD = 1.95). We measured cognitive and affective control using standard experimental tasks, and for those in care, we also examined associations with self-reported emotion regulation, mental health, and school well-being. RESULTS After controlling for IQ, there was a significant group difference in affective control performance, with those in care on average performing worse across all tasks. However, further analyses showed this was driven by deficits in overall cognitive control ability, and was not specific to, or worsened by, affective stimuli. Further, we found no evidence that either cognitive or affective control was associated with emotion regulation abilities or the mental health and well-being of young people in care. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that cognitive and affective control may not underlie mental health for young people in care, though limitations should be considered. We discuss implications for theory and intervention development, and avenues for further research. TRIAL REGISTRATION https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/QJVDA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosie McGuire
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah L Halligan
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Susanne Schweizer
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jovita T Leung
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel M Hiller
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom
- Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, United Kingdom
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Schweizer S, Auer T, Hitchcock C, Lee-Carbon L, Rodrigues E, Dalgleish T. Affective Control Training (AffeCT) reduces negative affect in depressed individuals. J Affect Disord 2022; 313:167-176. [PMID: 35792299 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with prevalence rates rising. Despite the scale of the problem, available pharmacological and psychological interventions only have limited efficacy. The National Institute of Health's Science of Behaviour Change framework proposes to address this issue by capitalising on insights from basic science to identify mechanisms that can be targeted by novel interventions. The current study evaluated the potential of a computerized programme aimed at improving affective control, a mechanistic target involved in both risk and maintenance of depression. In a first phase the cognitive profiles of 48 depressed individuals (mean age: 39 years, 75 % female) were compared to cognitive functioning in 16 never-depressed individuals (mean age: 31 years, 56 % female). The sole index of functioning that differed between diagnostic groups was reaction time across negative and positively valanced trials on an affective Stroop task (d = 0.58). This index was then used to evaluate an affective control training (AffeCT) against a placebo training. Results showed no significant changes on tasks that showed no differences with never-depressed individuals in Phase I. However, compared to placebo training, AffeCT led to significantly greater improvement in the target index, affective Stroop performance (d = 1.17). Importantly, AffeCT led to greater reductions in negative affect as measured by the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule compared to the placebo training (d = 0.98). This proof-of-concept study shows promising benefits of AffeCT on depressed individuals' affect, but not depressive symptoms. It further supports the utility of the Science of Behaviour Change framework, highlighting the need for determining meaningful assays of target mechanisms when evaluating novel interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Schweizer
- University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Cambridge, UK; University of New South Wales, School of Psychology, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Tibor Auer
- University of Surrey, School of Psychology, Guildford, UK
| | - Caitlin Hitchcock
- University of Cambridge, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK; University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Leonie Lee-Carbon
- University of Cambridge, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
| | - Evangeline Rodrigues
- University of Cambridge, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tim Dalgleish
- University of Cambridge, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
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Royuela-Colomer E, Wante L, Orue I, Braet C, Mueller SC. Comparing emotional working memory in adolescents and young adults with and without depressive symptoms: developmental and psychopathological differences. BMC Psychol 2022; 10:134. [PMID: 35614497 PMCID: PMC9131646 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-022-00836-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Depressive symptoms are associated with working memory impairments. Yet, comparative studies examining working memory across the developmental spectrum in depressed and non depressed cohorts are lacking. This study examined emotional working memory in 74 adolescents (mean age = 14; 21 with depressive symptoms) and 92 adults (mean age = 22; 36 with depressive symptoms). Participants completed two versions of an emotional face n-back task, and either paid attention to the valence of the emotion or the gender. Both tasks were completed at low load (0-back) and high load (2-back). In the high load condition, healthy adolescents showed a bias towards positive faces, both speeding up reaction times (RTs) when emotion was task relevant but slowing RTs when they were task irrelevant. This interaction was neither significant in adolescents with depressive symptoms nor in young adults. Depressive symptoms did not influence RTs in low load. The results indicate that adolescents with depressive symptoms might lack the bias towards positive affective material at high load WM task present in healthy adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estíbaliz Royuela-Colomer
- Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain.
| | - Laura Wante
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Izaskun Orue
- Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Caroline Braet
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain.,Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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4
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Shen Y, Li Z, Shao M, Liu Y, Zhang Y. Effects of emotional faces on working memory in adolescents with learning anxiety. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02469-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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5
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The regulatory roles of progesterone and estradiol on emotion processing in women. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 21:1026-1038. [PMID: 33982247 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00908-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Emotion processing is known to interact with memory. Ovarian steroid hormones, such as progesterone and estradiol, modulate emotion processing and memory. However, it is unclear how these hormones influence brain activity when emotion processing is integrated with working memory (WM). Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the relationship between endogenous hormonal concentration and brain activity during emotion processing in the context of a WM n-back task in 74 young women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results show that positive emotion processing activates reward-related areas, such as the caudate and putamen, whereas negative emotion processing activates a corticolimbic network, including the amygdala and hippocampus. Furthermore, our findings provide evidence that progesterone modulates more bottom-up brain activation during both positive and negative emotion processing, whereas estradiol activates lateralized, top-down regulation. These findings provide insight on the neural correlates of emotion processing during an n-back task in young women and highlight how important it is to consider women's endogenous hormonal concentration in neurobiological and cognition research.
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Dimensions of adversity in association with adolescents' depression symptoms: Distinct moderating roles of cognitive and autonomic function. Dev Psychopathol 2020; 32:817-830. [PMID: 31845636 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579419001172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to adverse events is prevalent among youths and robustly associated with risk for depression, particularly during adolescence. The Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP) distinguishes between adverse events that expose youths to deprivation versus threat, positing unique mechanisms of risk (cognitive functioning deficits for deprivation, and altered fear and emotion learning for threat) that may require different approaches to intervention. We examined whether deprivation and threat were distinctly associated with behavioral measures of cognitive processes and autonomic nervous system function in relation to depression symptom severity in a community sample of early adolescents (n = 117; mean age 12.73 years; 54.7% male). Consistent with DMAP, associations between threat and depression symptoms, and between economic deprivation and depression symptoms, were distinctly moderated by physiological and cognitive functions, respectively, at baseline but not follow-up. Under conditions of greater cognitive inhibition, less exposure to deprivation was associated with lower symptom severity. Under conditions of blunted resting-state autonomic response (electrodermal activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia), greater exposure to threat was associated with higher symptom severity. Our findings support the view that understanding risk for youth depression requires parsing adversity: examining distinct roles played by deprivation and threat, and the associated cognitive and biological processes.
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Gallardo-Moreno GB, González-Garrido AA, Villaseñor-Cabrera T, Alvarado-Rodríguez FJ, Ruiz-Stovel VD, Jiménez-Maldonado ME, Contreras-Piña N, Gómez-Velázquez FR. Sustained attention in schoolchildren with type-1 diabetes. A quantitative EEG study. Clin Neurophysiol 2020; 131:2469-2478. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Ho RA, Hall GB, Noseworthy MD, DeMatteo C. Post-concussive depression: evaluating depressive symptoms following concussion in adolescents and its effects on executive function. Brain Inj 2020; 34:520-527. [DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2020.1725841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachelle A. Ho
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- School of Rehabilitation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Geoffrey B. Hall
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michael D. Noseworthy
- Imaging Research Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Radiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Carol DeMatteo
- School of Rehabilitation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Schweizer S, Parker J, Leung JT, Griffin C, Blakemore SJ. Age-related differences in affective control and its association with mental health difficulties. Dev Psychopathol 2020; 32:329-341. [PMID: 30907719 PMCID: PMC6982534 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579419000099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Difficulties in regulating affect are core characteristics of a wide range of mental health conditions and are associated with deficits in cognitive control, particularly in affective contexts, affective control. The current study explored how affective control relates to mental health over the course of adolescence. We developed an Affective Control Task, which was administered to young adolescents (11-14 years; n = 29); mid-adolescents (15-18 years; n = 31), and adults (22-30 years; n = 31). The task required individuals to sort cards according to continuously changing rules: color, number, or item type. There was a neutral condition in which items were shapes, and an affective condition, in which items were emotional facial expressions. Better affective control was associated with fewer mental health difficulties (p < .001, R2 = .15). Affective control partially accounted for the association between age group and mental health problems, z = 2.61, p = .009, Akaike information criterion = 484, with the association being strongest in young adolescents, r (27) = -.44, p = .018. Affective control further accounted for variance in the association between self-reported (but not experimental) emotion regulation and mental health (z = -3.44, p < .001, Akaike information criterion = 440). Poor affective control, especially in young adolescents, is associated with more mental health problems and higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties. Improving affective control therefore may constitute a promising target for prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Schweizer
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jenna Parker
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jovita T. Leung
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Cait Griffin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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10
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Connell AM, Danzo S, Magee K, Uhlman R. Children's appraisals of maternal depression and responses to emotional faces in early-adolescence: An Event Related Potential (ERP) study. J Affect Disord 2019; 250:241-248. [PMID: 30870774 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Revised: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parental depression represents a significant risk for depression development in offspring. While cognitive mechanisms represent a central risk pathway, children's appraisals of parental symptoms have been understudied. This study examined associations between children's self-blame, threat, and frequency/duration appraisals for maternal symptoms in relation to cognitive control and emotional response processes. METHODS Sixty mother-daughter (aged 10-14-years) pairs participated. Affective processing was assessed by three Event Related Potential (ERP) components, the N2, P3, and LPP, during an emotional Go/NoGo task. RESULTS Threat-appraisals were associated with alterations in all three ERP components, independently of maternal diagnostic histories or youth depressive symptoms. Self-blame was associated with early attentional engagement towards calm faces. Independent effects of maternal depression history and youth symptoms were also observed. CONCLUSIONS Results highlight the importance of youth perceptions of maternal depressive symptoms in models of depression-risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arin M Connell
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44016, United States.
| | - Sarah Danzo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44016, United States
| | - Kelsey Magee
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44016, United States
| | - Rana Uhlman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44016, United States
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González-Garrido AA, Brofman-Epelbaum JJ, Gómez-Velázquez FR, Balart-Sánchez SA, Ramos-Loyo J. Skipping Breakfast Affects the Early Steps of Cognitive Processing. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. It has been generally accepted that skipping breakfast adversely affects cognition, mainly disturbing the attentional processes. However, the effects of short-term fasting upon brain functioning are still unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on cognitive processing by studying the electrical brain activity of young healthy individuals while performing several working memory tasks. Accordingly, the behavioral results and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of 20 healthy university students (10 males) were obtained and compared through analysis of variances (ANOVAs), during the performance of three n-back working memory (WM) tasks in two morning sessions on both normal (after breakfast) and 12-hour fasting conditions. Significantly fewer correct responses were achieved during fasting, mainly affecting the higher WM load task. In addition, there were prolonged reaction times with increased task difficulty, regardless of breakfast intake. ERP showed a significant voltage decrement for N200 and P300 during fasting, while the amplitude of P200 notably increased. The results suggest skipping breakfast disturbs earlier cognitive processing steps, particularly attention allocation, early decoding in working memory, and stimulus evaluation, and this effect increases with task difficulty.
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Altered Working Memory Processing of Emotion in Adolescents with Dysphoric Symptomatology: An Eye Tracking Study. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2018; 49:875-887. [PMID: 29744706 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-018-0803-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
It has been suggested that altered processing of emotion during cognitive control plays an important role in the etiology of depressive symptoms. The current study investigates the influence of emotional stimuli on working memory (WM) in adolescents with dysphoric symptomatology (DS). Twenty-five adolescents with DS and 40 adolescents with no dysphoric symptomatology (NDS) completed a memory-guided eye movement task. This task assessed the influence of irrelevant affective information on WM processes during high and low cognitive load. Latency analyses showed that, in the high load WM condition, negative distractors disturbed WM performance in adolescents with NDS, but not in adolescents with DS. Accuracy analyses revealed that adolescents with NDS had higher accuracy rates in the presence of positive distractors relative to negative and neutral distractors, and in comparison to adolescents with DS. The findings indicated altered WM performance in the context of emotional distractors in adolescents with DS and may contribute to theoretical knowledge and early prevention of youth depression.
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Ho RA, Hall GB, Noseworthy MD, DeMatteo C. An Emotional Go/No-Go fMRI study in adolescents with depressive symptoms following concussion. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 132:62-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2016] [Revised: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Schweizer S, Navrady L, Breakwell L, Howard RM, Golden AM, Werner-Seidler A, Dalgleish T. Affective enhancement of working memory is maintained in depression. Emotion 2018; 18:127-137. [PMID: 28406681 PMCID: PMC5819821 DOI: 10.1037/emo0000306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Revised: 02/10/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
We currently know little about how performance on assessments of working memory capacity (WMC) that are designed to mirror the concurrent task demands of daily life are impacted by the presence of affective information, nor how those effects may be modulated by depression-a syndrome where sufferers report global difficulties with executive processing. Across 3 experiments, we investigated WMC for sets of neutral words in the context of processing either neutral or affective (depressogenic) sentences, which had to be judged on semantic accuracy (Experiments 1 and 2) or self-reference (Experiment 3). Overall, WMC was significantly better in the context of depressogenic compared with neutral sentences. However, there was no support for this effect being modulated by symptoms of depression (Experiment 1) or the presence of recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD; Experiments 2 and 3). Implications of these findings for cognitive theories of the role of WM in depression are discussed in the context of a growing body of research showing no support for a differential impact of depressogenic compared with neutral information on WM accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Tim Dalgleish
- Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Medical Research Council
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Wante L, Mueller SC, Cromheeke S, Braet C. The impact of happy and angry faces on working memory in depressed adolescents. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 169:59-72. [PMID: 29342446 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2017] [Revised: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Recent cognitive models suggest that the ability to control emotional information in working memory (WM) may be implicated in the etiology and maintenance of depression. However, few studies have examined the effects of processing relevant and irrelevant emotional stimuli on WM performance in depressed adolescents. In the current study, depressed adolescents (n = 27) and healthy adolescents (n = 49) completed two versions of an emotional n-back task: a low WM load (0-back) task and a high WM load (2-back) task. In the emotion-relevant condition participants were asked to attend to the emotional expression of an angry, happy, or neutral face, whereas in the emotion-irrelevant condition participants were asked to attend to the gender of the face. The results showed a WM improvement for happy faces in the emotion-relevant condition and a WM impairment for happy faces in the emotion-irrelevant condition for healthy adolescents but not for depressed adolescents. No biases toward angry faces were found. These results demonstrate that depressed adolescents do not show a preferential processing of angry faces but rather fail to show a positivity bias as seen in healthy adolescents. This supports the theoretical notion that a depressive disorder is characterized by a blunted reactivity toward positive information and may provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms of youth depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Wante
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sofie Cromheeke
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Caroline Braet
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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Wante L, Mueller SC, Demeyer I, Naets T, Braet C. Internal shifting impairments in response to emotional information in dysphoric adolescents. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2017; 57:70-79. [PMID: 28419918 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2017.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Revised: 04/04/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Previous studies have suggested that internal cognitive control impairments may play an important role in the development of depression. Despite a growing body of research in adults, the ability to shift internal attention between mental representations in working memory has received little attention in younger populations. This study investigated internal shifting capacity between emotional and non-emotional information in dysphoric and non-dysphoric adolescents. METHODS Twenty dysphoric and 34 non-dysphoric adolescents (10-17 years) completed an Internal Shifting Task, with pictures of angry and neutral faces, to measure the ability to shift attention between information held in working memory. RESULTS Dysphoric adolescents showed specific shifting impairments when processing emotional material relative to non-dysphoric adolescents. Valence-specific analyses revealed that shifting was particularly impaired when shifting from negative to neutral information. By comparison, relative to non-dysphoric adolescents, dysphoric adolescents did not show shifting impairments when non-emotional features of the pictures had to be processed. LIMITATIONS The study is limited by the absence of a structured clinical interview as dysphoria was determined dimensionally. Furthermore, a comparison of the effects of different negative stimuli on shifting could not be made since sad stimuli were not included in the stimulus set. CONCLUSIONS The results confirm the link between depressive symptoms and emotion-specific shifting impairments in adolescents and indicate that targeting shifting ability in response to emotional stimuli may be a promising avenue for prevention programs. Longitudinal research is needed to replicate results and to explore the role of internal shifting impairments in the etiology and maintenance of depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Wante
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ineke Demeyer
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tiffany Naets
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Caroline Braet
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Brion M, D’Hondt F, Davidoff DA, Maurage P. Beyond Cognition: Understanding Affective Impairments in Korsakoff Syndrome. EMOTION REVIEW 2016. [DOI: 10.1177/1754073915594433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
As earlier research on Korsakoff syndrome (KS), a frequent neurological complication of alcohol-dependence (AD), mainly focused on cognition, affective impairments have been little investigated despite their crucial impact in AD. This article proposes new research avenues on this topic by combining two theoretical frameworks: (a) dual-process models, positing that addictions are due to an imbalance between underactivated reflective system and overactivated affective-automatic one; (b) continuity theory, postulating a gradual worsening of cognitive impairments from AD to KS. We suggest that this joint perspective may renew the current knowledge by clarifying the affective-automatic deficits in KS and their interactions with reflective impairments, but also by offering a direct exploration of the continuity between AD and KS regarding reflective and affective-automatic abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fabien D’Hondt
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
| | - Donald A. Davidoff
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, USA
- Department of Neuropsychology, McLean Hospital, USA
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
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Rozovskaya RI, Machinskaya RI, Pechenkova EV. The influence of emotional coloring of images on visual working memory in adults and adolescents. HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY 2016; 42:69-78. [DOI: 10.1134/s0362119716010138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
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Vilgis V, Silk TJ, Vance A. Executive function and attention in children and adolescents with depressive disorders: a systematic review. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2015; 24:365-84. [PMID: 25633323 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-015-0675-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2014] [Accepted: 01/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in adults is associated with deficits in cognitive control. Particularly, impairment on executive function (EF) tasks has been observed. Research into EF deficits in children and adolescents with MDD has reported mixed results and it is currently unclear whether paediatric MDD is characterised by impairments in EF and attention. PsycInfo, Scopus and Medline were systematically searched to identify all studies that have investigated EF and attention in paediatric depressive disorders between 1994 and 2014. 33 studies meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria were identified. While across different domains of EF some studies identified a deficit in the clinical group, the majority of studies failed to find deficits in response inhibition, attentional set shifting, selective attention, verbal working memory, and verbal fluency. More research is needed to clarify the relationship between depressive disorders in children and adolescents and spatial working memory processing, sustaining attention, planning, negative attentional bias and measures of 'hot' EF. There is little support for EF deficits in paediatric depression. However, there are numerous methodological problems that may account for null findings. Alternatively, chronicity and/or severity of symptoms may explain discrepancies between cognitive deficits in adult and paediatric MDD. Recommendations for future studies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Vilgis
- Academic Child Psychiatry Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, 3052, Australia,
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