Compensatory Cognitive Strategies Research Articles

The Effects of a Single-Session Virtual Rumination Intervention to Enhance Cognitive Functioning in Veterans With Subjective Cognitive Symptoms: Multimethod Pilot Study.

Subjective cognitive concerns (SCCs) entail perceived difficulties in thinking or memory, often reported without substantial objective evidence of cognitive impairment. These concerns are prevalent among individuals with a history of brain injuries, neurological conditions, or chronic illnesses, contributing to both psychological distress and functional limitations. They are increasingly considered to be a risk factor for future objective decline. A considerable number of individuals reporting SCCs also exhibit mental health symptoms, such as a history of trauma, depression, or anxiety. Interventions that address modifiable emotional and cognitive factors related to SCC could improve functioning and quality of life. Therefore, the use of emotion regulation strategies, especially those directed at minimizing rumination, could serve as a promising focus for interventions aimed at mitigating subjective cognitive concerns in veteran populations. This pilot study explored the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a brief, 1-session emotion regulation intervention called "Worry Less, Remember More." The Worry Less, Remember More intervention was designed to reduce rumination and improve subjective cognitive functioning in veterans with subjective cognitive changes (N=15). We randomized 15 veterans to either the active telehealth condition or waitlist control and completed the intervention. Participants were aged between 31 and 67 (mean 49.5, SD 10.1) years, and the sample was primarily male (12/15, 83%) and White (10/15, 67%). The most common diagnoses were posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Following the intervention, veteran input was sought through semistructured interviews with a subset of 12 participants, examining feasibility, acceptability, and perceived efficacy. Preliminary efficacy was also measured using pre- and postintervention self-report measures. Veterans reported that this intervention was acceptable, with 92% (11/12) of the sample reporting that they benefited from the intervention and would recommend the intervention to others with similar difficulties. Semistructured interviews revealed difficulties with feasibility, including problems with the remote consenting process, forgetting appointments, and needing additional strategies to remember to consistently use the interventions. The intervention improved self-reported cognitive symptoms on quantitative measures but did not improve self-reported rumination. This pilot study establishes the preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of the Worry Less, Remember More intervention for veterans with subjective cognitive symptoms. Future iterations of the intervention may benefit from simplifying the electronic consent process, providing reminders for appointments, and incorporating compensatory cognitive strategies to assist with using the telehealth system, as well as applying the strategies learned in the intervention. While future research is needed with larger samples, including nonveteran populations, the intervention may also be a useful clinical tool to bridge care between neuropsychology clinics and mental health treatment.

84 Preferred Compensatory Cognitive Training Strategies Among Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Difficulties

Objective:Older adults experiencing mild cognitive difficulties (MCD) may benefit from compensatory cognitive training (CCT) to address cognitive changes. CCT can be delivered over various lengths of time and can focus on a specific cognitive domain (e.g., memory) or multiple domains. Identifying the most relevant and impactful portions of a CCT intervention could allow for more effective and streamlined delivery of compensatory strategies, perhaps allowing this type of training to be included in feedback sessions or brief interventions. This study sought to investigate which factors older adults with MCD found to be most beneficial and applicable to their daily lives after completion of a brief telehealth CCT program.Participants and Methods:Adults age 55+ with documented MCD (n=28) and an optional care partner (CP; n=18) were recruited for video-chat delivery of a 6-week, motivationally-enhanced CCT program adapted from CogSMART. The six weeks included content addressing: Education and Lifestyle Strategies (Session 1); Organization, Prioritization, and Prospective Memory (Session 2); Attention, Concentration, and Working Memory (Session 3); Learning and Memory (Session 4); Executive Functions: Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Planning (Session 5); and Skills Integration and Next Steps (Session 6). After completing the course, participants (n=25) provided open-ended feedback on course content, including the areas they found most helpful. They were also asked which strategies from the course they had successfully applied in their daily lives, and which they expected to continue using following the course. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed by two researchers.Results:Participants most often endorsed strategies from Session 2 (44% of participants) and Session 3 (44%) as being helpful and applicable in daily life. Session 1 content was also frequently endorsed (36%). Content from Session 5 was noted to have been helpful/applicable least often (12%). Participants also reported having found common factors of the program to be helpful (35%), such as interaction with the clinician, education on relevant resources, or greater self-reflection and self-awareness through the program. A minority of participants reported “all” (22%) or “none” (24%) of the content to be helpful.Conclusions:Among older adults with MCD, strategies related to prospective memory (e.g., calendar training) and attention (e.g., mindfulness) were most frequently reported as being helpful and applicable in daily life. Participants reported confidence in their ability to continue using these strategies after the program, along with continued implementation of lifestyle factors to promote healthy brain aging (e.g., exercise). Clinicians interested in providing CCT to older adults with MCD may find the most benefit from emphasizing and prioritizing strategies within these domains. Future research could use ecological momentary assessment techniques to gather real-time measures of how these learned strategies are employed in daily life. Continued exploration of the most salient and effective compensatory strategies for older adults with MCD will support effective intervention and promote independence among aging patients.

B - 76 Neurobehavioral Sequela Following Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury to the Bilateral Hippocampi and Globus Pallidus: a Clinical Case Study.

Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI) occurs when there is deficient oxygen supply and blood flow to the brain. HIBI can be precipitated by various factors including drug overdose. Brain regions that have high vulnerability to HIBI include the hippocampus and basal ganglia. Even when damage is limited to these two regions, research suggests that diffuse cognitive deficits and changes in behavior-emotional functioning can be observed. This case study presents on a 29-year-old female who sustained HIBI to the bilateral hippocampi and globus pallidus secondary to an opioid overdose which required a 3-day hospitalization. The patient was discharged from the hospital on suboxone therapy and completed outpatient interventions which included physical therapy as well as speech-language therapy with cognitive rehab. Although improvements in her functional status were noted, she reported having persisting difficulties with cognition in addition to post-injury behavioral-emotional changes. As such, she was referred for neuropsychological testing and the evaluation was completed 6months after her hospitalization. Testing showed prominent memory impairments along with deficits in language, visuospatial skills, executive functioning, and attention. On questionnaires, she endorsed having concerns for depression, attention, and executive functioning in daily life whereas her mother endorsed concerns for executive functioning. The patient's neurobehavioral profile was consistent with broad ranging sequela that can be observed with HIBI. Recommendations included medication consultation for mood, compensatory cognitive strategies, and vocational rehab for individuals with neurological disabilities. Overall, this case study demonstrates the important role of neuropsychologists in the assessment and treatment of individuals recovering from HIBI.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Assistive Technology for Executive Function Support for People With Acquired Brain Injury: Protocol for Single-Case Experimental Designs.

Executive function, including prospective memory, initiating, planning, and sequencing everyday activities, is frequently affected by acquired brain injury (ABI). Executive dysfunction necessitates the use of compensatory cognitive strategies and, in more severe cases, human support over time. To compensate for the executive dysfunction experienced, growing options for electronic mainstream and assistive technologies may be used by people with ABI and their supporters. We outline the study protocol for a series of single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) to evaluate the effectiveness of smart home, mobile, and/or wearable technologies in reducing executive function difficulties following ABI. Up to 10 adults with ABI who experience executive dysfunction and have sufficient cognitive capacity to provide informed consent will be recruited across Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. Other key inclusion criteria are that they have substantial support needs for everyday living and reside in community dwellings. On the basis of the participant's identified goal(s) and target behavior(s), a specific electronic assistive technology will be selected for application. Both identification of the target behavior(s) and selection of the assistive technology will be determined via consultation with each participant (and their key support person, if applicable). The choice of SCED will be individualized for each participant based on the type of technology used in the intervention, the difficulty level of the behavior targeted for change, and the anticipated rate of change. For each SCED, repeated measurements of the target behavior(s) during the baseline condition will provide performance data for comparison with the performance data collected during the intervention condition (with technology introduced). Secondary outcome measures will evaluate the impact of the intervention. The protocol includes 2 customizable Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for electronic record keeping. Recruitment period is June 2022 through March 2024. Trial results for the individual participants will be graphed and analyzed separately using structured visual analysis supplemented with statistical analysis. Analysis will focus on important features of the data, including both within- and between-phase comparisons for response level, trend, variability, immediacy, consistency, and overlap. An exploratory economic evaluation will determine the impact on formal and informal support usage, together with quality of life, following the implementation of the new technological intervention. The study has been designed to test the cause-effect functional relationships between the intervention-in this case, electronic assistive technology-and its effect in changing the target behavior(s). The evaluation evidence gained will offer new insights into the application of various electronic assistive technologies for people who experience executive dysfunction following ABI. Furthermore, the results will help increase the capacity of key stakeholders to harness the potential of technology to build independence and reduce the cost of care for this population. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12622000835741, https://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12622000835741.aspx. DERR1-10.2196/48503.

Cognitive Strategies: Moderating the Relationship between Executive Functions and Daily Functioning

Whereas prior studies have addressed relationships between cognitive strategies and learning and achievement, very few dealt with their connection to daily functioning. This study examines the moderation effect of the frequency of compensatory cognitive strategy use within that relationship among university students. A sample of 336 students (18-36 years; 180 women, 156 men) answered the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX; executive function components), Time Organization and Participation Scale (TOPS; daily functioning), and Compensatory Cognitive Strategies Scale (CCSS; strategy use). The results showed significant correlations between the DEX and TOPS for three CCSS levels (-1.0, -1.0 to 1.0, and 1.0 SD from average); the higher the frequency of cognitive strategy use, the stronger the association between the DEX and TOPS. The findings suggest that more frequently use of cognitive strategies can strengthen efficient daily functioning.

Structural and Functional MRI Data Differentially Predict Chronological Age and Behavioral Memory Performance.

Human cognitive abilities decline with increasing chronological age, with decreased explicit memory performance being most strongly affected. However, some older adults show "successful aging," that is, relatively preserved cognitive ability in old age. One explanation for this could be higher brain-structural integrity in these individuals. Alternatively, the brain might recruit existing resources more efficiently or employ compensatory cognitive strategies. Here, we approached this question by testing multiple candidate variables from structural and functional neuroimaging for their ability to predict chronological age and memory performance, respectively. Prediction was performed using support vector machine (SVM) classification and regression across and within two samples of young (N = 106) and older (N = 153) adults. The candidate variables were (1) behavioral response frequencies in an episodic memory test; (2) recently described functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scores reflecting preservation of functional memory networks; (3) whole-brain fMRI contrasts for novelty processing and subsequent memory; (4) resting-state fMRI maps quantifying voxel-wise signal fluctuation; and (5) gray matter volume estimated from structural MRIs. While age group could be reliably decoded from all variables, chronological age within young and older subjects was best predicted from gray matter volume. In contrast, memory performance was best predicted from task-based fMRI contrasts and particularly single-value fMRI scores, whereas gray matter volume has no predictive power with respect to memory performance in healthy adults. Our results suggest that superior memory performance in healthy older adults is better explained by efficient recruitment of memory networks rather than by preserved brain structure.

Attentive-executive functioning and compensatory strategies in adult ADHD: A retrospective case series study.

BackgroundAdults with ADHD exhibit a neuropsychological profile that may present deficits in many cognitive domains, particularly attention and executive functions (EFs). However, some authors do not consider executive disfunction as an important part of the clinical profile of the syndrome; this could be related to the use of inappropriate neuropsychological tests, probably not adapted and not sufficiently ecological. Moreover, new data are required on specific correlation of attentive-executive symptoms with socio-demographic factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the neuropsychological performance of a group of adults with ADHD, also evaluating the influence of gender, age and education level.MethodsWe retrospectively collected health-related personal data of 40 adult ADHD patients, clinically diagnosed and evaluated via a battery of 4 neuropsychological tests and 1 self-administered questionnaire. Gender, age and years of education differences were assessed.ResultsAttention and EFs deficits have been highlighted mainly on the d2-R and 5-point neuropsychological tests, which therefore seem to be more sensitive in measuring the attention-executive dysfunction in an adult ADHD population, than TAP Go/No-go and ROCFT. ADHD patients also manifested subjective behavioral impulsivity disorders on BIS-11. There were no statistically significant gender differences in cognitive performance. On the contrary, younger patients performed worse on subscales TAP Go/No-go errors and 5-points number of drawings, while participants with a higher education level performed better on subscales d2-R speed of execution and d2-R errors. This supports a reduction in the number of errors and the execution time as a function of older age and a higher level of education. Finally, patients with higher education also self-reported greater impulsivity in planning.ConclusionOur preliminary findings suggest that adult ADHD is not a lifelong stable disorder, but it may change over time. Moreover, attention-executive deficits may be influenced and partially counterbalanced by experience (i.e., advancing age) and a higher level of education. This could underlie the development of specific psycho-behavioral and cognitive compensatory strategies. The use of self-administered questionnaires is therefore recommended to highlight attentional and executive difficulties that may not result in neuropsychological tests.

Introduction to Topical Issue on mHealth for Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

Introduction to Topical Issue on mHealth for Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

Cognitive remediation for women during the menopausal transition: a pilot study

The menopausal transition is associated with physical and emotional symptoms as well as subjective perceptions of cognitive difficulty that is generally not borne out on objective cognitive measures. This discrepancy suggests that a psychological rather than biological mechanism likely mediates the cognitive concerns of women in menopause. The current study assessed the feasibility of a cognitive remediation intervention (consisting of psychoeducation, cognitive compensatory strategies, and lifestyle modification) with the goal of reducing subjective perceptions of cognitive difficulty during the menopause. Participants (N=27, M age=53.74, SD=4.14) completed a five-week group-based intervention (with a one-month post-group booster) consisting of 2-hour weekly sessions. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention measures capturing subjective cognitive ability, mood, anxiety, stress, personality, and a comprehensive battery of objective cognitive tests. The primary variable of interest was self-reported cognitive confidence measured by the Memory and Cognitive Confidence Scale (MACCS). All but one MACCS subscale decreased over the course of treatment (with lower scores associated with higher confidence) and effect sizes ranged from small to large (d=-.39 to -.91) with gains maintained at one-month follow-up. Interestingly, no change in objective cognitive test performance was observed, indicating increases in subjective cognitive confidence in the absence of objective cognitive improvement. There was also no change in mood, anxiety, or stress scores. Two-level HLM analyses revealed that those with higher baseline neuroticism, as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory, had smaller decreases in post-group MACCS High Standards subscale relative to those with lower baseline neuroticism (p=.027, d=-.45). Further, those with higher baseline depression scores on the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) had a smaller decrease in post-intervention MACCS Total Score relative to those with lower ratings of depression. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind in targeting perceptions of cognitive impairment and associated functional difficulties during menopause. This intervention holds the promise of improving quality of life for women in menopause that might also translate to reduced healthcare burden, as many women worry that perceived cognitive changes may signal the onset of dementia rather than reflect normal hormonal changes.

EMDR Treatment for Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study

The majority of people who experience mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) have a healthy recovery, where initial somatic, cognitive, psychological, and behavioral mTBI-related symptoms resolve naturally within hours or days. Unfortunately, a significant minority of people develop persistent post-concussion symptoms, sometimes referred to as persistent post-concussion syndrome (pPCS), often causing severe long-term reduction in well-being and daily function. Psychological and neuropsychological treatments are typically limited to antidepressants, psychoeducation on mTBI and pPCS, basic neurorehabilitative cognitive compensatory strategies, traditional cognitive behavioral therapy, or no treatment at all. This paper discusses a single case study which demonstrates how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy might provide psychological improvement in clients who sustain mTBI and develop pPCS. The case example describes a 57-year-old man who sustained a mTBI from a serious road traffic collision as a pedestrian and who developed pPCS. Treatment included nine 1.5-hour EMDR sessions across a 5-month period (the first being an assessment). Measures of psychological symptom change and client feedback were taken at pretreatment, midtreatment, posttreatment, and aftertreatment had ceased to gauge long-term status. Measures were taken at 18-month follow-up and 4-year review (which followed litigation settlement). The novel viability for the application of EMDR for this client group isdiscussed.

Compensatory Cognitive Strategy Use by Young Adults: A Psychometric Evaluation of Self-Report Measures.

This study examined the reliability and validity of scores from questionnaires assessing compensatory cognitive strategy use by young adults. Participants (N = 783; 79.6% women; 77.4% White; Age: M = 18.7 ± 0.9 years) completed the Compensatory Cognitive Strategies Scale (CCSS), Metamemory Questionnaire-Strategies (MMQ-S), Neuro-Quality of Life (Neuro-QoL) v2.0 Short Form-Cognitive Function, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Reliability estimates were acceptable for the CCSS (α = .85) and MMQ-S (α = .86) in the full sample and comparable in subsamples stratified by gender and self-reported mental health conditions. The CCSS and MMQ-S scores showed evidence for convergent validity (r range: .60 to .70) and discriminant validity in the full sample and subsamples (r with DERS range: .13 to .33). Greater compensatory strategy use had small-to-medium associations with greater subjective cognitive concerns on the Neuro-QOL for the full sample and subsamples (r range: -.19 to -.49). The CCSS and MMQ-S scores showed acceptable properties for use with young adults.

Age-related dissociation of N400 effect and lexical priming

The use of contextual information is an important capability to facilitate language comprehension. This can be shown by studying behavioral and neurophysiological measures of accelerated word recognition when semantically or phonemically related information is provided in advance, resulting in accompanying attenuation of the respective event-related potential, i.e. the N400 effect. Against the background of age-dependent changes in a broad variety of lexical capacities, we aimed to study whether word priming is accomplished differently in elderly compared to young persons. 19 young (29.9 ± 5.6 years) and 15 older (69.0 ± 7.2 years) healthy adults participated in a primed lexical decision task that required the classification of target stimuli (words or pseudo-words) following related or unrelated prime words. We assessed reaction time, task accuracy and N400 responses. Acceleration of word recognition by semantic and phonemic priming was significant in both groups, but resulted in overall larger priming effects in the older participants. Compared with young adults, the older participants were slower and less accurate in responding to unrelated word-pairs. The expected N400 effect was smaller in older than young adults, particularly during phonemic word and pseudo-word priming, with a rather similar N400 amplitude reduction by semantic relatedness. The observed pattern of results is consistent with preserved or even enhanced lexical context sensitivity in older compared to young adults. This, however, appears to involve compensatory cognitive strategies with higher lexical processing costs during phonological processing in particular, suggested by a reduced N400 effect in the elderly.

SMART-CPT for veterans with comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder and history of traumatic brain injury: a randomised controlled trial

ObjectiveTo better concurrently address emotional and neuropsychological symptoms common in veterans with comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and history of traumatic brain injury (TBI), we integrated components of compensatory cognitive...

Alapismeretek a Diszkalkulia Pedagógiai Vizsgálatáról

A DPV koncepciója azon alapul, hogy a számolásban résztvevő numerikus rendszerek és egyéb, nem matematika-specifikus rendszerek (részképességek) különböző módokon és szinteken diszfunkcionálhatnak. A teszt feladatai adott életkorokhoz rendelt fejlődési fázisokhoz igazodnak. A vizsgálat a hibaelemzés módszerével és objektív kritériumokkal térképezi fel a diszkalkuliára utaló tipikus hibákat, majd további szempontokat ad az egyéb részképességek működésének megfigyeléséhez és a gondolkodási, kompenzáló stratégiák számbavételéhez. A hangsúlyozottan egyéni vizsgálóeljárás átfogó képet ad a gyermek matematikai és kognitív képességeinek szintjéről. Az egyéni teljesítményprofil alapján lehetővé válik a fejlődési diszkalkulia (súlyos tanulási zavar) és a tanulási nehézség elkülönítése, ezeknek megfelelően az egyénre szabott terápiás célok, feladatok és módszerek meghatározása (terápia-relevancia).

Functional independence 6 months to 5 years after traumatic brain injury: Opportunities for recreational therapy

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have a lasting and devastating impact on individuals and their families. The effects of TBI are complex and may impair cognitive and psychosocial function. The purpose of this study was to identify impairments 6 months to 5 years after TBI and to recognize opportunities for recreational therapy (RT) to address functional needs. Results indicated that psychosocial adjustment and cognitive improvements occurred between 90 and 180 days after injury. However, impairment in several cognitive and psychosocial adjustment subscales persisted 1 to 5 years after injury. Community-based RT interventions focused on cognitive compensatory strategies, environmental adaptation, and social skill development may help individuals experiencing long-term impairments.

An initial investigation of the reliability and validity of the Compensatory Cognitive Strategies Scale

ABSTRACTAlthough many cognitive performance tests and self-reported cognitive concerns scales have been used to evaluate cognitive functioning, fewer measures assess the use of compensatory cognitive strategies for daily activities among those experiencing mild levels of cognitive impairment. The Compensatory Cognitive Strategies Scale was developed to measure frequency of self-reported cognitive strategies to decrease distractions, organise and sequence activities, and to utilise newly available computer aids to assist memory among those with multiple sclerosis (MS). Cronbach’s alpha, a measure of internal consistency reliability, was .89 and .90 in two different samples. Concurrent validity was supported by the total score’s moderate correlation with the MMQ-Strategy Scale (rs = .67) and by a statistically significant increase in total scores for those who had participated in an intervention designed to improve their cognitive abilities. Correlations were stronger with another strategy measure than with measures of other constructs such as health-promoting behaviours, thus supporting the scales convergent versus divergent validity. These initial findings suggest that the Compensatory Cognitive Strategies Scale may be useful to both researchers and clinicians working to build compensatory strategies for day-to-day functioning among those with mild cognitive impairment.

Cognition in Adults and Older Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: Chicken or Egg?

IN BRIEF Cognitive impairment and cognitive decline are common in adults with type 1 diabetes. Although several diabetes-related variables have been associated with cognitive functioning in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, inconsistencies remain. This is particularly true in older adults. Cognitive impairment appears to be both a consequence of and a risk factor for poor diabetes self-management and associated glycemic outcomes. Interventions such as cognitive compensatory strategies, assistive technology, and simplified treatment regimens may limit the impact of cognitive impairment on self-management in adults and older adults with type 1 diabetes.

Editorial: Perception and Cognition: Interactions in the Aging Brain.

Healthy aging can lead to declines in both perceptual and cognitive functions. Many of the studies in this Topic demonstrate such age-related declines, but also identify links between them. Encouragingly, these links suggest that improving perception could benefit cognition. In addition, while compensatory cognitive strategies were mainly unsuccessful in improving perception, cognitive training was effective under certain conditions.

Compensatory Cognitive Training for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn Veterans With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of group-based compensatory cognitive training (CCT) for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/Operation Iraqi Freedom(OIF)/Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury. One hundred nineteen OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with history of mild traumatic brain injury participated at 3 sites, and 50 of the Veterans were randomized to CCT group, while 69 Veterans were randomized to the usual care control group. The CCT group participated in 10 weeks of CCT. Both CCT and usual care groups were assessed at baseline, 5 weeks (midway through CCT), 10 weeks (immediately following CCT), and 15 weeks (5-week follow-up) on measures of subjective cognitive complaints, use of cognitive strategies, psychological functioning, and objective cognitive performance. Veterans who participated in CCT reported significantly fewer cognitive and memory difficulties and greater use of cognitive strategies. They also demonstrated significant improvements on neurocognitive tests of attention, learning, and executive functioning, which were 3 of the cognitive domains targeted in CCT. Findings indicate that training in compensatory cognitive strategies facilitates behavioral change (ie, use of cognitive strategies) as well as both subjective and objective improvements in targeted cognitive domains.

Assessing personal financial management in patients with bipolar disorder and its relation to impulsivity and response inhibition

Introduction: Impulsivity and risk-taking behaviours are reported in bipolar disorder (BD). We examined whether financial management skills are related to impulsivity in patients with BD.Methods: We assessed financial management skills using the Executive Personal Finance Scale (EPFS), impulsivity using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and response inhibition using an emotional go/no-go task in bipolar individuals (N = 21) and healthy controls (HC; N = 23).Results: Patients had fewer financial management skills and higher levels of impulsivity than HC. In patients and controls, increased impulsivity was associated with poorer personal financial management. Patients and HC performed equally on the emotional go/no-go task. Higher BIS scores were associated with faster reaction times in HC. In patients, however, higher BIS scores were associated with slower reaction times, possibly indicating compensatory cognitive strategies to counter increased impulsivity.Conclusions: Patients with BD may have reduced abilities to manage personal finances, when compared against healthy participants. Difficulty with personal finance management may arise in part as a result of increased levels of impulsivity. Patients may learn to compensate for increased impulsivity by modulating response times in our experimental situations although whether such compensatory strategies generalize to real-world situations is unknown.