Cognitive age prediction and psychological distress in adolescence

Background: Adolescence is characterized by fine tuning of cognitive functions. Reduced cognitive functioning is associated with increased psychological distress. Deviation from typical cognitive maturation may represent a marker of later psychological difficulty. Objectives: We examined the cross-sectional relationship between an estimate of cognitive maturation and symptoms of psychological distress in a convenience sample of youth (n=566, age 9-25 years, 73% females). Methods: Extending the conceptual approach used for brain age prediction, we used machine learning and out-of-sample validation to estimate the cognitive age of each participant, based on performance on a computerized cognitive test battery. For each participant, chronological age was subtracted from predicted cognitive age to procure a cognitive age gap (CAG) as a measure of deviant cognitive maturation. As measures of psychological distress, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, depression and generalized anxiety were assessed using sum scores from the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997), Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ; Angold et al., 1995) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006). We tested the association between age-corrected CAG (cCAG)and psychological domains using linear models accounting for relevant confounders and corrected for multiple comparisons. Results: The out-of-sample age prediction accuracy for the cognition model was acceptable (r=.57, R2=0.33, RMSE=2.34, MAE=1.84). Lower cCAG was associated with higher emotional symptoms (ß=-.08, SE=0.029, p=.005, pcorr=.032) and anxiety (ß=-.07, SE=0.030 p=.014, pcorr=.044). No significant associations were found between cCAG and the remaining domains of psychological distress. Conclusion: Deviating negatively from expected cognitive maturation was associated with higher emotional symptoms and anxiety in this population-based sample of youth. This supports that cognitive development represents a relevant factor in psychological wellbeing.