Effects of depression on performance on neuropsychological tests in adolescents

Abstract

To determine the effects of depression on cognitive abilities in adolescents, we administered a battery of neuropsychological tests, including Wechsler Intelligence and Memory scales, Category Test, and Buschke Selective Reminding Test to 22 inpatients, ages 13-17. Patients were diagnosed with SADS-RDC criteria. Severity of depression was measured with the clinician-rated Children’s Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the self-rated Children’s Depression Inventory and Reynold’s Adolescent Depression Scale. Subjects were classified into high and low depression groups based on a median split of scores from each depression scale. Using the Children’s Depression Rating Scale, patients in the high depression score group were significantly more impaired on select tests of verbal expression, attention, learning, memory, and concept formation (p < .03 or lower on all comparisons). Several visualspatial/motor measures, including Block Design, Object Assembly, and Performance IQ, did not reveal group differences. Measurement methods of depression were found to be important in the analysis, though patients’ age and sex were not. These preliminary findings are consistent with previous studies with depressed adults in that effortful learning and concept formation tests appear to be particularly sensitive to the effects of depression. In contrast to studies of depressed adults, however, we did not find an association between severity of depression and several timed, visual-motor tests.