Processing speed and executive functions predict real-world everyday living skills in adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia

Abstract

Cognition and clinical variables are known to be among the most predictive factors of real-world social functioning and daily living skills in adult-onset schizophrenia. Fewer studies have focused on their impact in adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). The aim of this study is to examine the relationships and the predictive value of cognition and clinical variables on real-world daily living skills in a sample of adolescents with EOS. Cognitive, clinical and real-world everyday living skills measures were administered to 45 clinically and pharmacologically stabilized adolescent outpatients with EOS and 45 healthy control subjects matched by age and sex. Multi-variant analyses to compare cognitive and real-world functioning profiles between patients and controls and regression analysis to identify predictors of real-world functioning scores in patients were used. Adolescents with EOS showed a generalized cognitive and real-world daily living skills dysfunction. Several cognitive and clinical variables significantly correlated with real-world daily living skills functioning but only the processing speed and executive functions emerged as independent predictors of everyday living skills scores, explaining 25.1% of the variance. Slowness in processing information and executive dysfunction showed a significant impact on real-world daily living skills in EOS, independently from clinical symptoms and other cognitive variables. Nevertheless, much of the variance in the daily living skills measure remained unaccounted for, suggesting that other factors were involved as well in this young population.

Examining the durability of a hybrid, remote and computer‐based cognitive remediation intervention for adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

“…39,41,42 Though the link between cognition and functional outcome is complex and mediated by both social and functional competency skills, it has been demonstrated that neurocognitive variables relate to specific functional domains of work/productivity and daily living skills in individuals with schizophrenia. [43][44][45][46] The associations between cognitive and functional outcomes have similarly been demonstrated for several of the cognitive skills that improved and persisted in our sample. For example, cognitive flexibility, 47 executive function, 21,43,46 processing speed 46 and working memory have previously been shown to impact functioning in patients with schizophrenia.…”

“…The associations between cognitive and functional outcomes have similarly been demonstrated for several of the cognitive skills that improved and persisted in our sample. For example, cognitive flexibility, executive function, processing speedand working memory have previously been shown to impact functioning in patients with schizophrenia.…”

Proactive response inhibition abnormalities in the sensorimotor cortex of patients with schizophrenia

“…1 Poor cognitive control is associated with reduced clinical insight, 2 lower levels of remission, 3 reduced daily living skills 4 and greater suicide risk 5 in patients with schizophrenia. Response inhibition, the ability to inhibit planned or ongoing motor actions, represents an important subcomponent of cognitive control.…”

The impact of parent socio-economic status on executive functioning and cortical morphology in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls

“…It is also important to note that executive deficits have important real-world consequences for individuals with schizophrenia. Lower executive skills predict reduced insight (Chan et al, 2012), reduced daily living skills (Puig et al, 2012), and reduced levels of remission (Hofer et al, 2011). Despite these prominent correlates, caution must be exercised in asserting the primary cognitive importance of executive deficits, as general intellectual ability (“g”) correlates substantially with most measures of executive skill.…”