@article{SarrarWarschburgerPfeifferetal.2013, author = {Sarrar, L. and Warschburger, Petra and Pfeiffer, E. and Lehmkuhl, Ulrike and Schneider, N.}, title = {Cognitive flexibility in adolescent patients with unipolar affective disorders - gender differences}, series = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie}, volume = {41}, journal = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie}, number = {4}, publisher = {Hogrefe}, address = {Bern}, issn = {1422-4917}, doi = {10.1024/1422-4917/a000240}, pages = {261 -- 270}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Objective: Several studies have revealed impairments in cognitive functions among patients with affective disorders (AD). However, to date there are few neuropsychological studies on cognitive flexibility among adolescent patients with AD, especially on gender differences in AD. Here, we investigate cognitive functions, especially cognitive flexibility, in adolescent patients with unipolar AD (UAD) compared to a healthy control group (CG). Method: The study population consists of 17 male patients (M-age = 15.4 +/- 1.3) and 22 female patients with UAD (M-age = 15.6 +/- 1.4) as well as 20 male (M-age = 16.0 +/- 1.0) and 30 female (M-age = 15.7 +/- 0.9) healthy adolescents. A neuropsychological test battery was conducted, and depressive symptoms, psychological stress, and intelligence were also assessed. Results: The analyses revealed no significant group differences regarding cognitive flexibility or visual processing speed, albeit slight better performance in motor processing speed for the CG. Furthermore, no gender differences were observed regarding cognitive flexibility, though female subjects general displayed better performance in processing speed. Conclusions: Overall, there are no indications for serious deficits and specific gender differences in cognitive flexibility or processing speed in adolescent patients with UAD. Independent of psychological distress, female subjects seem to have some advantages in processing speed.}, language = {de} } @article{SarrarHolzhausenWarschburgeretal.2016, author = {Sarrar, Lea and Holzhausen, Martin and Warschburger, Petra and Pfeiffer, Ernst and Lehmkuhl, Ulrike and Schneider, Nora}, title = {Cognitive Function in Adolescent Patients with Anorexia Nervosa and Unipolar Affective Disorders}, series = {European eating disorders review : the professional journal of the Eating Disorders Associatio}, volume = {24}, journal = {European eating disorders review : the professional journal of the Eating Disorders Associatio}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1072-4133}, doi = {10.1002/erv.2425}, pages = {232 -- 240}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Studies have shown impairments in cognitive function among adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and affective disorders (AD). The association between cognitive dysfunctions, AN and AD as well as the specificity for these psychiatric diagnoses remains unclear. Therefore, we examined cognitive flexibility and processing speed in 47 female adolescent patients with AN, 21 female adolescent patients with unipolar affective disorders and 48 female healthy adolescents. All participants completed a neuropsychological test battery. There were no significant group differences regarding cognitive function, except for psychomotor processing speed with poorer performance in patients with AN. A further analysis revealed that all groups performed with the normal range, although patients with AN were over represented in the poorest performing quartile. We found no severe cognitive impairments in either patient group. Nevertheless, belonging to the AN group contributed significantly to poor performances in neuropsychological tasks. Therefore, we conclude that the risk for cognitive impairments is slightly higher for patients with AN. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.}, language = {en} }