Sarah V Biedermann1, Stefanie Meliss2, Candice Simmons3, Jani Nöthling3, Sharain Suliman3, Soraya Seedat3. 1. Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Center of Experimental Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: s.biedermann@uke.de. 2. Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. 3. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Neurocognitive impairments are commonly observed in adults suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The picture is less clear in adolescents. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may have an independent influence on neuropsychological test performance and provide partial explanatory power of the inconsistent findings. We hypothesized that adolescents with PTSD who have also suffered sexual abuse would have most pronounced deficits on neurocognitive testing. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 105 traumatized South African adolescents, of whom 52 fulfilled criteria of PTSD and 34 reported CSA, were studied. A comprehensive neurocognitive battery including tests of memory, executive functioning, and language was used to analyze the associations of neurocognitive impairments with PTSD and CSA. RESULTS: Adolescents reporting CSA manifested impairments in proactive and retroactive interference tasks on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test and in the copy condition of the Rey Osterrieth figure test, indicating deficits in attention and working memory. Against our hypothesis, no independent effects of PTSD were found on neurocognitive performance. Results were independent of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual abuse seems to have an independent influence on attention and working memory. This could be an early sign of hippocampal impairment.
OBJECTIVES:Neurocognitive impairments are commonly observed in adults suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The picture is less clear in adolescents. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may have an independent influence on neuropsychological test performance and provide partial explanatory power of the inconsistent findings. We hypothesized that adolescents with PTSD who have also suffered sexual abuse would have most pronounced deficits on neurocognitive testing. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 105 traumatized South African adolescents, of whom 52 fulfilled criteria of PTSD and 34 reported CSA, were studied. A comprehensive neurocognitive battery including tests of memory, executive functioning, and language was used to analyze the associations of neurocognitive impairments with PTSD and CSA. RESULTS: Adolescents reporting CSA manifested impairments in proactive and retroactive interference tasks on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test and in the copy condition of the Rey Osterrieth figure test, indicating deficits in attention and working memory. Against our hypothesis, no independent effects of PTSD were found on neurocognitive performance. Results were independent of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS:Sexual abuse seems to have an independent influence on attention and working memory. This could be an early sign of hippocampal impairment.