Defense Date

9-18-2009

Graduation Date

Fall 2009

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

School Psychology

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

Ara Schmitt, Jeffrey Miller

Committee Member

Glen Getz

Keywords

childhood, depression, executive function

Abstract

A variety of cognitive deficits have been linked to depression. In particular, data exists to suggest that persons with depression are subject to poorer executive function compared to normal controls. Establishing the connection between depression and impaired executive function is particularly important in childhood as a child's daily functioning, including social interactions and academic performance, may be impacted. The purpose of this study was to explore if children with significant symptoms of depression displayed deficits on tasks designed to measure the executive functions of attentional control, information processing and cognitive flexibility (Anderson, 2002) compared to a clinical control group. A clinical sample of children referred for outpatient, neuropsychological evaluation was used in this investigation. Results revealed that the sample of children with elevated symptoms of depression did not demonstrate impaired, or worse executive function performance compared to clinical controls. Further investigations should examine executive function within the context of verified clinical depression, and with an expanded array of executive function measures, including ratings of executive function across settings.

Format

PDF

Language

English

Download

Share

COinS