title: Cognitive Function in Adolescent Patients with Anorexia Nervosa and Unipolar Affective Disorders.
abstract: Studies have shown impairments in cognitive function among adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and affective disorders (AD). The association between cognitive dysfunctions, AN and AD as well as the specificity for these psychiatric diagnoses remains unclear. Therefore, we examined cognitive flexibility and processing speed in 47 female adolescent patients with AN, 21 female adolescent patients with unipolar affective disorders and 48 female healthy adolescents. All participants completed a neuropsychological test battery. There were no significant group differences regarding cognitive function, except for psychomotor processing speed with poorer performance in patients with AN. A further analysis revealed that all groups performed with the normal range, although patients with AN were over represented in the poorest performing quartile. We found no severe cognitive impairments in either patient group. Nevertheless, belonging to the AN group contributed significantly to poor performances in neuropsychological tasks. Therefore, we conclude that the risk for cognitive impairments is slightly higher for patients with AN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sarrar
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holzhausen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Warschburger
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lehmkuhl
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment
keywords: adolescents; anorexia nervosa; cognitive function; unipolar affective disorders