Impaired executive functioning influences verbal memory in anorexia nervosa.

BACKGROUND: How executive functioning affects delayed verbal recall in AN has never been tested. We investigated the influence of speed of information processing (SIP) and inhibition on delayed verbal recall in females with AN. METHODS: Measures of SIP and inhibition from 35 females with AN were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression after controlling for age, depressive symptomatology and body mass index. Each predictor was evaluated using structure coefficients, common variance and dominance weights. RESULTS: The combination of measures of SIP and inhibition accounted for almost 80% of the variance on the delayed recall of the story recall task. When the rest of the variables were partialled out, SIP and inhibition accounted for more than 50% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: As it occurs with visuospatial abilities in AN, basic cognitive abilities such as speed of information processing and cognitive inhibition may affect other cognitive functions such as delayed verbal memory regardless of immediate recall. These findings may help interpret performance on cognitive tests in future research.

Evolución y análisis de la demanda asistencial infanto-juvenil en una unidad de salud mental general de área / Evolution and analysis of the child and adolescent asistential demand in a general mental health service of area

En este artículo se presentan los resultados de un análisis de la evolución de la demanda asistencial infanto-juvenil en un servicio de salud mental para la población general (Unidad de Salud Mental de Xàtiva, Valencia) desde su creación, en 1986 hasta 1999. Se analizan variables sociodemográficas y psicopatológicas de una muestra de 1.296 pacientes de 0 a16 años extraídos del registro de casos de la unidad. La incidencia anual ha aumentado progresivamente a lo largo de los años y en la actualidad es comparable a la reportada por servicios de salud mental infantil. La demanda se relaciona con variables de accesibilidad y con el desarrollo de los equipos de Atención Primaria. Se discuten las implicaciones para el diseño de recursos sanitarios infanto-juveniles (AU)