1. Childhood trauma and diagnosis of major depression: Association with memory and executive function
- Author
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Linn K. Kuehl, Kim Hinkelmann, Katja Wingenfeld, Christian Otte, and Michael Kaczmarczyk
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Memory, Episodic ,Trail Making Test ,Verbal learning ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Executive Function ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cognition ,0302 clinical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,medicine ,Memory span ,Humans ,Cognitive Dysfunction ,Risk factor ,Child ,Biological Psychiatry ,Depressive Disorder, Major ,Autobiographical memory ,business.industry ,CTQ tree ,Middle Aged ,Verbal Learning ,medicine.disease ,030227 psychiatry ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Adult Survivors of Child Adverse Events ,Case-Control Studies ,Major depressive disorder ,Female ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
Cognitive function is often impaired in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Childhood trauma is a risk factor for developing MDD and is also associated with cognitive impairments in later life. We aimed to investigate the effects of childhood trauma on cognitive function in MDD. 68 medication-free MDD patients and 75 healthy controls (HC) participated. We tested cognitive function with the Autobiographical Memory Test, Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), Trail Making Test A and B, Rey-Osterrieth/Taylor Complex Figure Test, and Digit Span Backward. Childhood trauma was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Patients and HC did not differ with respect to age, sex, education. Mean CTQ sum scores differed significantly for depressed and HC with mean 47.8 (19.2) and 31.0 (6.8), respectively. Depressed patients and HC (without taking childhood trauma into account) differed only in AVLT performance. When childhood trauma was considered, this group difference disappeared. Subsequent regression analyses revealed that higher CTQ scores but not a diagnosis of MDD were associated with less specific autobiographical memories. Associations of CTQ with other cognitive domains failed significance after correction for multiple testing. Our results suggest that cognitive function is influenced by childhood trauma in MDD. However, the effects are small.
- Published
- 2018