Alcohol use and perceived social support are both predictors of cognitive performance in adolescents. However, it is unclear how these predictors influence cognitive performance in adolescents who...Show moreAlcohol use and perceived social support are both predictors of cognitive performance in adolescents. However, it is unclear how these predictors influence cognitive performance in adolescents who have a parent with a mood disorder. The objective of the study is to better understand these predictors in the offspring of parents with mood disorders, in order to improve future interventions to enhance cognitive performance in high-risk offspring. Hypotheses posited a negative association between alcohol use and cognitive performance, a positive association between perceived social support and cognitive performance, and the idea that social support would attenuate alcohol's negative impact on cognition. This observational study had a cross-sectional design. The study included 104 participants with an age range of 13 to 25 years old. It was known that 57 participants had a parent with a mood disorder, which were called the ‘high-risk’ sample. At the time of the study, it was still unknown if the remaining participants had a parent with a mood disorder or not. Therefore, all hypotheses were tested for the whole group and a sensitivity analysis was conducted as well, comprising the high-risk sample. Cognitive performance was measured with a subtask from the WISC-V and WAIS-IV. Alcohol use and perceived social support were measured using self-report questionnaires. Three hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to assess all three hypotheses in the whole sample and in the high-risk sample. In the whole sample, our results showed no significant association between alcohol use and cognitive performance, no significant association between perceived social support and cognitive performance, and a higher perceived social support did not attenuate the effect alcohol use had on cognitive performance. Subsequently, we also conducted the sensitivity analysis and our results showed no significant associations in all three hierarchical multiple regressions as well. This means that the current study did not find evidence that alcohol use and perceived social support are associated with cognitive performance in high-risk offspring. This inconclusive evidence implicates the need for thorough methodology and design set-up when researching predictors of cognitive performance.Show less
Introduction: Offspring of parents with a mood disorder have a strong risk of developing a mood disorder and displaying cognitive deficits compared to healthy controls. Research shows...Show moreIntroduction: Offspring of parents with a mood disorder have a strong risk of developing a mood disorder and displaying cognitive deficits compared to healthy controls. Research shows positiveassociations between sleep and cognitive performance and exercise and cognitive performance in the general population. The present cross-sectional study aimed to identify a relationship between sleep, exercise and cognitive performance in adolescents at high-risk for severe mental illness. It was expected that regular exercise or adequate sleep duration has a significant and positive association with cognitiveperformance in adolescents at high-risk for severe mental illness. Methods: Data were collected by the Mood and Resilience in Offspring (MARIO) study, a longitudinal study investigating the transmission of mood disorders between parents and offspring. In total, 146 participants from both a high-risk and control group were included and filled in questionnaires about sleep, exercise and depressive symptoms. They also completed two subtests (matrix reasoning and vocabulary) of the WISC-V or WAIS-IV. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test whether there was a positive relationship between exercise, sleep and cognitive performance in adolescents at high-risk for severe mental illness and controls. Results: The analyses showed no significant association between exercise and matrix reasoning (β = -.02, p = .873) and vocabulary (β = .21, p = .146). Moreover, there was no significant association between sleep duration and matrix reasoning (β = -.06, p = .506) or vocabulary (β = -.07, p = .465). Furthermore, depressive symptoms did not moderate the relationship between sleep, exercise and cognitive performance. Sensitivity analyses, including only high-risk participants, did not reveal any additional insights. Conclusions: Contrary to the hypotheses, our findings show no positive association between adequate sleep duration and/or regular exercise and cognitive performance in adolescents at high-risk for severe mental illness. Offspring of parents with a mood disorder form a vulnerable group. Future research is therefore needed to better understand mood symptoms and cognitive deficits in offspring of parents with mood disorders. Keywords: sleep duration, exercise, cognitive performance, high-risk, mood disorderShow less
Intellectual deficits have been known as a core feature of bipolar disorder for decades and are hypothesized to be responsible for the unfavorable psychosocial outcome and high unemployment rates....Show moreIntellectual deficits have been known as a core feature of bipolar disorder for decades and are hypothesized to be responsible for the unfavorable psychosocial outcome and high unemployment rates. Those alterations seem to be permanent and are present not only during active- but also during euthymic phases. The focus of this study was on investigating a possible link between mood symptoms, assessed through the clinician-rated questionnaire YMRS and the self-rated QIDS, and the IQ together with cognitive abilities in four different domains. Measured was the performance of 50 recently diagnosed patients participating in the BINCO-study. Furthermore, the focus was on observing differences in scoring between different symptomatic states and the two types of disorder. The impact of confounders, including the intake of antipsychotic medication, benzodiazepines, and the educational level, were considered. While no significant association between depressive symptoms and the subscale-derived IQ could be detected, a quadratic relation was found between manic symptoms and SDIQ score, pointing towards lower scoring in patients with subclinical symptoms and higher performance in patients with mild to moderate symptoms. The QIDS-score significantly impacted the performance in the sub-scale „information”, which provides the verbal comprehension index. The YMRS- score again showed a curvilinear association with the same subtest. The intake of antipsychotic medication seemed to show the greatest confounding effect on the dependent variable. Further research is needed to elucidate the effect of manic symptoms on IQ and verbal comprehension, as well as the role of antipsychotic medication. Also, larger sample sizes would determine the actual impact of each mood phase on the IQ.Show less
Childhood scarcity has long lasting effects that remain visible during adulthood. Much of the literature suggests that these effects are mostly negative, but some theories such as the Life History...Show moreChildhood scarcity has long lasting effects that remain visible during adulthood. Much of the literature suggests that these effects are mostly negative, but some theories such as the Life History Theory have inspired studies that show positive effects of childhood scarcity. The current work aims to highlight the effects of experiencing childhood scarcity on adult cognitive performance in a current financial scarcity situation. We hypothesized that people who experienced childhood scarcity performed better, on a memory and attention task during a situation of current financial scarcity, then people who had not experienced such scarcity. To test their memory we used a restaurant menu containing dishes with prices and calories that participants had to recall; further, to measure attentional shifting, the menu contained a discount code that participant could copy and paste in order to save money. In the experiment 190 participants were randomly assigned to two groups – respectively low budget and high budget condition. The hypotheses were not confirmed, however a significant effect of childhood scarcity on the memory of dishes’ prices and calories was found.Show less
In this study, we hypothesized that the financial scarcity mindset would lead to a lower working memory performance. Additionally, we also hypothesized that a sudden loss of money would lead to...Show moreIn this study, we hypothesized that the financial scarcity mindset would lead to a lower working memory performance. Additionally, we also hypothesized that a sudden loss of money would lead to lower working memory performance than it would a longer period of financial scarcity. We experimentally induced financial scarcity by a financial task - the Household task and we operationalized working memory performance as participants’ scores on the backwards Corsi task. In an online experiment, 187 adult British participants were randomly assigned to four groups, which varied both in the amount of income they received and whether they received or did not receive a wealth shock. Although none of our hypotheses were confirmed, significant experimental manipulation results proved this study design is valid to use when experimentally inducing financial scarcity. We discussed the results and proposed that incentivizing people should be taken into consideration in future research and practice, as an important factor that might diminish the negative effects of financial scarcity on working memory performance.Show less
The present study examines the effect of financial scarcity on cognitive performance by not only measuring the objective, but also the subjective aspect of scarcity, contrary to earlier research in...Show moreThe present study examines the effect of financial scarcity on cognitive performance by not only measuring the objective, but also the subjective aspect of scarcity, contrary to earlier research in this field. Cognitive performance was measured by means of a cognitive control task and a working memory task. A moderating effect of cognitive load was tested by randomly assigning participants into either a ‘difficult’ or ‘easy’ condition, determining the level of difficulty of the financial scenarios they had to solve. This effect could not be rejected, nor supported. By use of the Psychological Inventory of Financial Scarcity (PIFS), this study finds support for the relationship between subjective financial scarcity and cognitive performance. More specifically, we demonstrate an effect on cognitive control, while no support was found an effect on working memory. This study underwrites the importance of a measurement of subjective financial scarcity and encourages future research to uncover the true impact of the cognitive load in the minds of the poor.Show less
