Cognitive performance in children with acute early-onset anorexia nervosa

When anorexia nervosa (AN) occurs in children below the age of 14 years, it is referred to as early-onset AN (EO-AN). Over the last years, there has been an increased focus on the role of cognitive functioning in the development and maintenance of AN. Adults with AN show inefficiencies in cognitive...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European child & adolescent psychiatry 2016-11, Vol.25 (11), p.1233-1244
Main Authors: van Noort, Betteke Maria, Pfeiffer, Ernst, Ehrlich, Stefan, Lehmkuhl, Ulrike, Kappel, Viola
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Adolescent
Adolescents
Age
Age differences
Age of Onset
Anorexia
Anorexia Nervosa - physiopathology
Brain research
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Child
Child & adolescent psychiatry
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Children
Children & youth
Cognition
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Cognitive development
Cognitive functioning
Coherence
Early onset
Eating disorders
Female
Flexibility
Humans
Information processing
Long term memory
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Contribution
Psychiatry
Regression analysis
Spatial memory
Studies
Systematic review
Teenagers
Visual memory
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Summary:When anorexia nervosa (AN) occurs in children below the age of 14 years, it is referred to as early-onset AN (EO-AN). Over the last years, there has been an increased focus on the role of cognitive functioning in the development and maintenance of AN. Adults with AN show inefficiencies in cognitive functions such as flexibility and central coherence. Systematic neuropsychological examinations of patients with EO-AN are missing. Thirty children with EO-AN and 30 adolescents with AN, as well as 60 healthy controls (HC) underwent an extensive neuropsychological examination. ANOVAs with post hoc tests and explorative regression analyses were conducted. Patients with EO-AN (mean age = 2.17 ± 1.57 years) showed no significant differences in flexibility, inhibition, planning, central coherence, visuospatial short- and long-term memory or recognition in comparison to HC (mean age = 11.62 ± 1.29 years). Performance of adolescents with AN (mean age = 15.93 ± 0.70 years) was not significantly different compared to HC (mean age = 16.20 ± 1.26 years). Explorative regression analyses revealed a significant interaction of age and group for flexibility (adjusted R 2  = 0.30, F  = 17.85, p  = 0.013, η p 2  = 0.32). Contrary to expectations, the current study could not confirm the presence of inefficient cognitive processing in children with EO-AN compared to HC. Nonetheless, the expected age-related improvement of flexibility might be disrupted in children and adolescents with AN. Longitudinal neuropsychological examinations are necessary to provide more information about the role of cognitive functioning in the development and maintenance of AN.
ISSN:1018-8827
1435-165X
DOI:10.1007/s00787-016-0847-0