TY - JOUR
T1 - Verbal memory and aspects of attentional control in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders or depressive disorders
AU - Günther, T.
AU - Holtkamp, K.
AU - Jolles, J.
AU - Herpertz-Dahlmann, B.
AU - Konrad, K.
PY - 2004/1/1
Y1 - 2004/1/1
N2 - Background: The aim was to examine basic performance on attention and memory tasks in treatment-naive children and adolescents with anxiety disorder or depressive disorder and in healthy subjects under drug-free conditions. Methods: Basic neurocognitive performance on attention and verbal memory tasks was examined in children and adolescents with emotional disorders, between 6 and 17 years of age. A total of 34 children with an anxiety disorder, 31 children with a depressive disorder, and 33 healthy controls were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. All children were treatment-naive at the time of testing. Five different computerised attention tasks and the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test were administered. Results: A significant effect of diagnosis was found for verbal memory but not for attention. Limitations: The large age range and inclusion of different diagnoses resulted in rather inhomogeneous groups. Conclusion: The present study provided evidence for an undisturbed attentional performance in both patient groups and a dissociation in memory functioning between anxious and depressed children. Memory impairment was found to be specifically associated with childhood depression.
AB - Background: The aim was to examine basic performance on attention and memory tasks in treatment-naive children and adolescents with anxiety disorder or depressive disorder and in healthy subjects under drug-free conditions. Methods: Basic neurocognitive performance on attention and verbal memory tasks was examined in children and adolescents with emotional disorders, between 6 and 17 years of age. A total of 34 children with an anxiety disorder, 31 children with a depressive disorder, and 33 healthy controls were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. All children were treatment-naive at the time of testing. Five different computerised attention tasks and the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test were administered. Results: A significant effect of diagnosis was found for verbal memory but not for attention. Limitations: The large age range and inclusion of different diagnoses resulted in rather inhomogeneous groups. Conclusion: The present study provided evidence for an undisturbed attentional performance in both patient groups and a dissociation in memory functioning between anxious and depressed children. Memory impairment was found to be specifically associated with childhood depression.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2003.11.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2003.11.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 15488256
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 82
SP - 265
EP - 269
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
IS - 2
ER -