Children who experience cognitive problems including low attention, poor memory or lack of inhibition may later have mental health issues as teenagers and young adults, new research has found.
Analysing data from 13,988 individuals born in the UK between April 1991 and December 1992, the study discovered a number of key and specific links between childhood cognitive problems and mental health issues in later life, such as:
- Deficits in sustained attention in eight-year-olds precede development of borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms at 11-12 years and depression at 17-18 years;
- Difficulties with inhibition in eight-year-olds were associated with psychotic experiences at 17-18 years;
- Working memory deficits in 10-year-olds were related to hypomania at 22-23 years.
Mental disorders cause a significant disease burden globally and at least 10 per cent of children and adolescents worldwide have a mental disorder. Around 75 per cent of mental disorders diagnosed in adults have their onset in childhood and adolescence.
Targeting specific markers in childhood for early treatment may help to minimise the risk of children developing such problems in adolescence and adult life, the research found, which was led by the University of Birmingham.
“Our study highlights the potential impact of childhood cognitive deficits on young people’s mental health, suggesting specific associations with certain conditions,” says lead author Dr Isabel Morales-Muñoz, from the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Mental Health and the Finnish Institute for Mental Health, in Helsinki.
“Prevention strategies focussed on easing these specific cognitive issues could help to reduce the likelihood of such children developing linked mental health problems in adolescence and early adulthood.”
The study was the first analysis to follow subjects over a significant period of time, to explore specific associations between cognitive deficits in childhood and several psychopathological issues in young people.
Deficits in sustained attention at eight years being associated with BPD symptoms at 11-12 years is consistent with similar deficits in adult BPD patients linked to difficulties in sticking to therapy programmes.
Previous evidence also suggests a significant link between adult BPD and childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms -indicating that ADHD could represent a risk factor for BPD.
The study also supports the theory that lack of inhibition in childhood precedes later psychotic experiences, with a lack of inhibitory control common in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.
Researchers found that working memory deficits in childhood were linked to hypomania in young adults, but when they checked for co-existing psychopathological conditions this association disappeared – indicating that further investigation is needed.
Bipolar disorder, depression and psychosis commonly emerge during adolescence and continue in young adulthood – potentially related to anomalies in the way adolescents mature caused by psychosocial, biological or environmental factors.
“It’s crucial to study the onset of mental disorders at these early stages and evaluate which risk factors predate these conditions and in what way. These factors are core features of mental disorders such as psychosis and mood disorders,” adds co-author Professor Matthew Broome.
