Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract

The present investigation examined neurocognitive functioning, focusing on executive functioning (EF), in 39 children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 24 healthy control subjects all ages 8 to 17 years. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition along with several measures of executive functioning including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Trail Making Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and the Stroop Color Word Test were administered. The neurocognitive profiles for the group of depressed children and adolescents were grossly intact as most scores on intellectual and EF measures fell within the average range and did not differ from the comparison group. Mental processing speed was decreased in the MDD versus normal control group and 27% of the depressed group performed below average on the Trail Making Test. This investigation provided a good base from which to compare future literature on EF in outpatients with early-onset MDD.

Keywords:

• Childhood depression
• Neuropsychology
• Executive functioning
• Major depressive disorder
• Neuropsychological impairment

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIH-RO1-MH39188-09; Childhood depression: Remission and relapse. G.J.E., P.I.) and the research staff of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center at Dallas.