Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2022 Feb;28(2):177-187. doi: 10.1017/S1355617721000412. Epub 2021 May 5.
The current study aims to examine the prevalence rates and the relationship of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and comorbid depression/anxiety with neurocognitive performance in college athletes at baseline. We hypothesized a priori that the mood disturbance groups would perform worse than healthy controls, with the comorbid group performing worst overall.
Eight hundred and thirty-one (M = 620, F = 211) collegiate athletes completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery at baseline which included self-report measures of anxiety and depression. Athletes were separated into four groups [Healthy Control (HC) (n = 578), Depressive Symptoms Only (n = 137), Anxiety Symptoms Only (n = 54), and Comorbid Depressive/Anxiety Symptoms (n = 62)] based on their anxiety and depression scores. Athletes' neurocognitive functioning was analyzed via Z score composites of Attention/Processing Speed and Memory.
One-way analysis of variance revealed that, compared to HC athletes, the comorbid group performed significantly worse on measures of Attention/Processing Speed but not Memory. However, those in the depressive symptoms only and anxiety symptoms only groups were not significantly different from one another or the HC group on neurocognitive outcomes. Chi-square analyses revealed that a significantly greater proportion of athletes in all three affective groups were neurocognitively impaired compared to the HC group.
These results demonstrate that collegiate athletes with comorbid depressive/anxiety symptoms should be identified, as their poorer cognitive performance at baseline could complicate post-concussion interpretation. Thus, assessing for mood disturbance at baseline is essential to obtain an accurate measurement of baseline functioning. Further, given the negative health outcomes associated with affective symptomatology, especially comorbidities, it is important to provide care as appropriate.
本研究旨在考察基线时大学生运动员抑郁、焦虑症状的患病率及其与神经认知表现的关系。我们假设，情绪障碍组的表现会比健康对照组差，而共病组的表现总体最差。
831 名（M=620，F=211）大学生运动员在基线时完成了一项综合神经心理测试，其中包括焦虑和抑郁的自我报告测量。根据他们的焦虑和抑郁得分，运动员被分为四组[健康对照组（HC）（n=578）、仅有抑郁症状组（n=137）、仅有焦虑症状组（n=54）和共病抑郁/焦虑症状组（n=62）]。运动员的神经认知功能通过注意力/加工速度和记忆的 Z 分数组合进行分析。
方差分析显示，与 HC 运动员相比，共病组在注意力/加工速度方面的表现明显更差，但在记忆方面则不然。然而，仅有抑郁症状和仅有焦虑症状组在神经认知结果上与 HC 组之间没有显著差异。卡方分析显示，与 HC 组相比，所有三个情感组中都有更大比例的运动员存在神经认知障碍。
这些结果表明，应识别出患有共病抑郁/焦虑症状的大学生运动员，因为他们在基线时较差的认知表现可能会使脑震荡后的解释复杂化。因此，在基线时评估情绪障碍对于获得准确的基线功能测量至关重要。此外，鉴于与情感症状相关的负面健康后果，特别是共病，适当提供护理非常重要。
