Cognitive flexibility in inpatient children and adolescents with a history of suicide attempts

Neurocognitive and clinical characteristics of elementary school-aged children with a history of suicidal thoughts and behaviors

BACKGROUND

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) in elementary school-aged youth have increased in recent years. Understanding the risks associated with childhood STBs is necessary for prevention efforts.

METHODS

The current study examined clinical and neurocognitive characteristics of a community sample of elementary school-aged children with (STB+) and without (STB-) a history of STBs. The final sample included 93 families with children average age of 7.8 years (SD = 1.3). Children in this sample were racially diverse, evenly split by sex, and most identified as non-Hispanic. Neurocognitive functioning was assessed using computerized behavioral measures. Child clinical characteristics were assessed using self-report measures and STB history was assessed using semi-structured interviews.

RESULTS

Of the 93 families, 64 STB- children and 29 STB+ children participated. On average, STB+ children were older, reported higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and were more likely to have a parental history of suicidal behavior (PH+). Regarding neurocognitive functioning, STB+ children exhibited lower raw scores for both the NIH Dimensional Change Card Sort Task (NIH-DCCS) and NIH Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention Test (NIH-Flanker). Multivariable regression analyses revealed raw scores for NIH-DCCS and NIH-Flanker, PH+ status, and child age were associated with childhood STBs.

LIMITATIONS

Prospective data is needed to confirm cross-sectional findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Poorer neurocognitive functioning and PH+ status may serve as risk markers for STBs in elementary school-aged children. Targeting prevention programming for these risks may reduce the likelihood of STBs in at-risk elementary school-aged youth.

Psychosocial and neurocognitive correlates of suicidal thoughts and behaviours amongst siblings of persons with and without neurodevelopmental conditions

OBJECTIVE

Siblings of individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) have greater incidence of neuropsychiatric diagnoses and neurocognitive difficulties compared to siblings of persons without NDCs. Despite suicidality being labelled a global health crisis (WHO, 2014) and NDC siblings experiencing risk factors implicated in suicidality, no previous studies examined suicidality amongst adolescent and young adult siblings of persons with NDCs. Our study aimed to bridge this gap.

METHOD

The present study used Bayesian analyses and risk classification models to examine individual and environmental risk factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours amongst siblings of persons with and without NDCs (n = 267; 132 NDC, 135 control group, mean age 20.61, range 14-27, 76.40% female, 76.78% White Caucasian), as measured using self-report survey data and remote self-administered cognitive tests.

RESULTS

NDC siblings had higher rates of current nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI; 18.94% versus 14.07%, δ = -0.32), suicidal ideation (25.76% versus 8.89%, δ = -0.40) and history of suicide attempts (18.18% versus 4.44%, δ = -0.43) compared to controls. Classification models using boosting and random forest demonstrated adequate performance: positive predictive value 0.86-0.91, negative predictive value 0.81-0.90, false negative rates 0.11-0.24. Cognitive inflexibility, alexithymia, inattention, bullying, depression, NSSI, and eating or psychotic disorder history had the highest relative importance in predicting lifetime suicidality. Poorer executive functioning (measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Sustained Attention to Response Task, Stop Signal Task, and N-Back 2-back task) was strongly correlated with suicidality.

CONCLUSIONS

Screening for proximal and modifiable risk factors is critical to inform suicidal behaviour intervention and prevention programs for at-risk siblings.

Predicting normative data in healthy individuals on the computerized wisconsin card sorting test using regression models

BACKGROUND

Computerized neuropsychological tests provide advantages to clinicians with cost, administration, and time. However, studies have pointed out performance differences between manual and computerized versions of some neuropsychological tests. One of these is the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Due to the performance difference, the normative data of manual tests cannot be used for their computerized versions. Therefore, normative data searches are needed for computerized versions.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine the norm values of WCST-CV in a healthy sample.

METHODS

422 healthy adults aged 18-78 participated in this study. WCST-CVsub-scores are modeled by Regression Analysis based on Age and Education level to generate normative data. Among the 13 WCST scores, the regression models for WCST 2, WCST 3, WCST 4, WCST 10, and WCST 11 are significant. WCST 2, WCST 4, and WCST 11 scores are estimated with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). However, WCST 3 and WCST 10 scores are estimated with Weighted Least Squares (WLS) due to the violation of the homoscedasticity assumption.

RESULTS

The regression results show that p-values calculated from error increase as age and education level increase.

CONCLUSION

As a result of our research, norm values between 18-78 years of age were produced using RA. It was determined that gender was not significant for any sub-score. Therefore, only age and education level from socio-demographic variables were included in the model.