Short-changing the future: The systemic gap between psychology internship stipends and living wages.

Introduction: Providing doctoral internship stipends below living wages may harm interns, the clinical services they provide, and the field of health service psychology as a whole. This study evaluated the extent to which doctoral psychology internship stipends from the 2021-2022 training year for APA-accredited, APPIC-member programs in the US are consistent with living wages in the geographic region where sites are located. Methods: We obtained data reflecting internship sites' geographic location and stipends for the 2021-2022 academic year. Using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator, we computed a living wage for the county in which each internship site is located. Descriptive statistics, discrepancies, ratios, and correlations were calculated to reflect the associations between internship sites' stipends and their local living wages. Results: The average internship stipend was $31,783, which was lower than the average living wage by $2,091. Stipends ranged widely, from a low of $15,000 to a high of $94,595-reflecting a six-fold difference in wages. Although internship sites in higher cost of living areas paid higher stipends, over two-thirds (67.0%) of sites did not pay a stipend that equaled or exceeded a living wage. Ninety-eight sites (15.3%) had deficits of over $10,000 when comparing their stipends to local living wages, with $33,240 as the highest deficit. Discussion: Eliminating obstacles to educating health service psychologists by decreasing the financial burden of training will likely have subsequent critical benefits towards bridging the workforce gap between mental healthcare service needs and available providers, ultimately leading to improved population health.

Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy programme to reduce depressive symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis: a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: Depression is three to four times more prevalent in patients with neurological and inflammatory disorders than in the general population. For example, in patients with multiple sclerosis, the 12-month prevalence of major depressive disorder is around 25% and it is associated with a lower quality of life, faster disease progression, and higher morbidity and mortality. Despite its clinical relevance, there are few treatment options for depression associated with multiple sclerosis and confirmatory trials are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a multiple sclerosis-specific, internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) programme for the treatment of depressive symptoms associated with the disease. METHODS: This parallel-group, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial of an iCBT programme to reduce depressive symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis was carried out at five academic centres with large outpatient care units in Germany and the USA. Patients with a neurologist-confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and depressive symptoms were randomly assigned (1:1:1; automated assignment, concealed allocation, no stratification, no blocking) to receive treatment as usual plus one of two versions of the iCBT programme Amiria (stand-alone or therapist-guided) or to a control condition, in which participants received treatment as usual and were offered access to the iCBT programme after 6 months. Masking of participants to group assignment between active treatment and control was not possible, although raters were masked to group assignment. The predefined primary endpoint, which was analysed in the intention-to-treat population, was severity of depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) at week 12 after randomisation. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02740361, and is complete. FINDINGS: Between May 3, 2017, and Nov 4, 2020, we screened 485 patients for eligibility. 279 participants were enrolled, of whom 101 were allocated to receive stand-alone iCBT, 85 to receive guided iCBT, and 93 to the control condition. The dropout rate at week 12 was 18% (50 participants). Both versions of the iCBT programme significantly reduced depressive symptoms compared with the control group (BDI-II between-group mean differences: control vs stand-alone iCBT 6·32 points [95% CI 3·37-9·27], p<0·0001, effect size d=0·97 [95% CI 0·64-1·30]; control vs guided iCBT 5·80 points [2·71-8·88], p<0·0001, effect size d=0·96 [0·62-1·30]). Clinically relevant worsening of depressive symptoms was observed in three participants in the control group, one in the stand-alone iCBT group, and none in the guided iCBT group. No occurrences of suicidality were observed during the trial and there were no deaths. INTERPRETATION: This trial provides evidence for the safety and efficacy of a multiple sclerosis-specific iCBT tool to reduce depressive symptoms in patients with the disease. This remote-access, scalable intervention increases the therapeutic options in this patient group and could help to overcome treatment barriers. FUNDING: National Multiple Sclerosis Society (USA).

Prospective Implications of Insufficient Sleep for Athletes.

CONTEXT: Poor sleep is common in collegiate student-athletes and is associated with heterogeneous self-reported complaints at baseline. However, the long-term implications of poor sleep at baseline have been less well studied. OBJECTIVE: To examine the implications of insufficient sleep at baseline, as well as factors such as symptom reporting and neurocognitive performance at baseline associated with insufficient sleep, for the risk of sport-related concussion (SRC). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Undergraduate institution. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Student-athletes (N = 614) were divided into 2 groups based on the hours slept the night before baseline testing: sufficient (>7.07 hours) or insufficient (≤5.78 hours) sleepers. Athletes who went on to sustain an SRC during their athletic careers at our university were identified. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Four symptom clusters (cognitive, physical, affective, and sleep) and headache were examined as self-reported outcomes. Four neurocognitive outcome measures were explored: mean composite of memory, mean composite of attention/processing speed, memory intraindividual variability (IIV), and attention/processing speed IIV. RESULTS: Insufficient sleepers at baseline were nearly twice as likely (15.69%) as sufficient sleepers (8.79%) to go on to sustain an SRC. Insufficient sleepers at baseline, whether or not they went on to sustain an SRC, reported a higher number of baseline symptoms than did sufficient sleepers. When compared with either insufficient sleepers at baseline who did not go on to incur an SRC or with sufficient sleepers who did go on to sustain an SRC, the insufficient sleep group that went on to incur an SRC performed worse at baseline on mean attention/processing speed. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of insufficient sleep and worse attention/processing speed performance at baseline may increase the risk of sustaining a future SRC.

Functional Outcomes, Injury Variables, and Athlete Characteristics Associated with Post-Concussion Sleep Disturbance.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between sleep disturbance and functional outcomes following a concussion. Also, to explore athlete and injury-related variables that may be related to risk factors for poor sleep following concussion. METHOD: 124 collegiate athletes completed a neuropsychological evaluation within 14 days of sustaining a sport-related concussion (SRC). Athletes were categorized as sleep disturbed (n = 52) or not sleep disturbed (n = 72). Outcome variables included symptom reports, cognitive performance (mean performance and variability), and mood (depression). Injury characteristics and athlete characteristics explored were loss of consciousness (LOC) associated with the injury, whether the athlete was immediately removed from play, and history of prior concussions. RESULTS: Sleep disturbed athletes reported more symptoms, F(4, 119) = 7.82, p < 0.001, ƞ2 = 0.21, were more likely to be symptomatic at the time of testing, χ2(1, N = 124) = 19.79, p < 0.001, φ = 0.40, and were marginally more likely to experience clinically significant depression, χ2(1, N = 120) = 3.03, p = 0.08, φ = 0.16, than not sleep disturbed athletes. There were no cognitive differences between the groups, p > 0.05. A greater proportion of sleep disturbed athletes experienced LOC (30%) compared to not sleep disturbed athletes (13%), χ2(1, N = 118) = 4.99, p = 0.03, φ = -0.21. CONCLUSION: Sleep disturbances following SRC are associated with a broad range of self-reported symptoms. LOC may be associated with an increased risk of developing sleep disturbances; alternatively, sleep disturbances may increase the risk of LOC following concussion.

APOE & BDNF polymorphisms interact to affect memory performance at baseline in adolescent athletes.

Although several single-nucleotide polymorphisms have been associated with cognitive functioning in a variety of healthy and clinical samples, the influence of gene × gene interactions on cognition is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine interactive relationships between apolipoprotein E (APOE) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphisms on cognitive functioning in a sample of healthy adolescent athletes. Participants of this cross-sectional study included 78 student-athletes (52.6% male; age: M = 13.31, SD = 1.23). Athletes completed the Immediate Post-Concussion and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) computerized battery at baseline. APOE and BDNF genotypes were determined with buccal samples (APOE ε4+: n = 26; APOE ε4-: n = 52; BDNF Met+: n = 23; BDNF Met-: n = 55). Two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to evaluate the associations among APOE (ε4+ vs. ε4-) and BDNF (Met+ vs. Met-) genotypes and the ImPACT cognitive composites and two-factor model. No main effects were observed for either APOE or BDNF genotypes across the cognitive outcomes. However, there was a significant APOE × BDNF genotype interaction for the verbal (p=.009, ηp2=.091) and visual (p = .012, ηp2=.082) memory composites and the memory factor (p = .001, ηp2=.133), such that ε4+/Met+ carriers demonstrated poorer performance relative to other allele combinations. No significant interactions were observed for the visual motor speed (p = .263, ηp2=.017) or reaction time (p = .825, ηp2=.001) composites or the speed factor (p = .205, ηp2=.022). Our findings suggest an important relationship between APOE and BDNF genotypes on verbal and visual memory performance in healthy adolescent athletes. Clinicians may use this information to offer individualized concussion management based on individual athlete characteristics related to genetics and cognition.

Social cognition training improves recognition of distinct facial emotions and decreases misattribution errors in healthy individuals.

Facial emotion recognition is a key component of social cognition. Impaired facial emotion recognition is tied to poor psychological wellbeing and deficient social functioning. While previous research has demonstrated the potential for social cognition training to improve overall facial emotion recognition, questions remain regarding what aspects of emotion recognition improve. We report results from a randomized controlled trial that evaluates whether computerized social cognition training can improve recognition of distinct facial emotions in healthy participants. This investigation was designed to better understand the therapeutic potential of social cognition training for individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders. Fifty-five healthy adult participants were randomly assigned to an internet-based intervention during which they either completed social cognition training (SCT) or played control computer games (CON) for 10.5 h over 2-3 weeks. Facial emotion recognition was measured with the Penn ER-40, which was conducted before and after training. The following variables were collected and analyzed: facial emotion recognition accuracy for each emotion (i.e., anger, fear, happy, neutral (no emotional expression), and sad), reaction times for each emotion, and response error types (i.e., frequency of an emotion being chosen incorrectly, frequency of an emotion being missed, and frequency of an emotion being confused for another particular emotion). ANOVAs and t-tests were used to elucidate intervention effects both within and between groups. Results showed that the SCT group improved their accuracy for angry and neutral faces. They also improved their reaction times for neutral, fearful, and sad faces. Compared to the CON group, the SCT group had significantly faster reaction times to neutral faces after training. Lastly, the SCT group decreased their tendency to confuse angry faces for no emotional expression and to confuse no emotional expression for sad faces. In contrast, the CON group did not significantly improve their accuracy or reaction times on any emotional expression, and they did not improve their response error types. We conclude that social cognition training can improve recognition of distinct emotions in healthy participants and decrease response error patterns, suggesting it has the potential to improve impaired emotion recognition and social functioning in individuals with facial emotion recognition deficits.

A pilot study examining BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and biological sex: Relationships with baseline cognitive functioning in adolescent athletes.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine interactive relationships between a common brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphism (Val66Met) and biological sex on cognitive functioning in a sample of healthy adolescent athletes. Participants included 82 student athletes (age: M = 12.85 years, SD = 1.13) who were involved in a clinically-based sports-concussion management program. Athletes completed the ImPACT computerized battery at baseline and provided buccal samples for determination of their BDNF genotype. Two-way ANOVAs were used to evaluate the effect of BDNF genotype (Met+ vs. Met-) and sex (male vs. female) on cognitive functioning (subgroup n's: Female/Met+ = 12, Female/Met- = 26, Male/Met+ = 12, Male/Met- = 32). ANOVAs revealed non-significant main effects for both BDNF genotype and sex across all four cognitive composites. However, there was a significant BDNF genotype by sex interaction for the visual-motor speed composite (p = .015; ηp2 = .073), such that female Met carriers demonstrated better performance than male Met carriers. In contrast, no differences were found on visual-motor speed performance between females and males without a Met allele. Although these results will need to be replicated using larger samples, our preliminary findings lend support to the view that the Met allele may be somewhat neuroprotective in healthy adolescent females.

The minimal effect of depression on cognitive functioning when accounting for TOMM performance in a sample of U.S. veterans.

While many studies have demonstrated a relationship between depression and cognitive deficits, most have neglected to include measurements of performance validity. This study examined the relationship between depression and cognition after accounting for noncredible performance. Participants were veterans referred for outpatient clinical evaluation. The first set of regression analyses (N = 187) included age, sex, and education in Model 1, Beck Depression Inventory-2 (BDI-2) added in Model 2, and pass/failure of Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) added in Model 3 as predictors of 12 neuropsychological test indices. The second set of analyses (N = 559) mirrored the first but with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) diagnosis in Models 2 and 3. In the first analyses, after including TOMM in the model, only the relationship between BDI-2 and verbal fluency remained significant, but this did not survive a Bonferroni correction. In the second analyses, after including TOMM and Bonferroni correction, MDD diagnosis was a significant predictor only for CVLT-II Short Delay Free Recall. Therefore, the relationship between depression and cognition may not be driven by frank cognitive impairment, but rather by psychological mechanisms, which has implications for addressing depressed individuals' concerns about their cognitive functioning and suggest the value of providing psychoeducation and reassurance.

Coping Style Moderates the Effect of Pain on Depression Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined coping style as a possible moderator in the relationship between pain and depression in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). METHODS: Fifty-four PwMS completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and psychosocial questionnaires that assessed physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning. Using four pain indices (i.e., average pain, current pain, pain intensity, and pain interference) from the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), an overall pain index was created to capture a more comprehensive index of individuals' overall pain intensity and interference. The COPE questionnaire was used to derive three coping indices: active coping, avoidant coping, and a composite cope index that accounts for the relative contributions of both active and avoidant coping. The Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS) was used to measure depressive symptomatology. A series of hierarchical linear regressions were conducted with depressive symptoms as the outcome variable. RESULTS: Regression analyses revealed that the interactions between overall pain and each conceptualization of coping were significant (p = .001-.003). Simple effects tests revealed that overall pain only predicted depressive symptoms in PwMS with low active coping (p < .001), high avoidant coping (p < .001), and less adaptive coping via the composite coping index (p < .001). CONCLUSION: We found that pain predicted depressive symptoms in PwMS who utilized more avoidant and less active coping strategies. Interventions aimed to improve coping style may be effective in enhancing the ability to manage pain and, subsequently, improve depression outcomes in MS.

Comorbid Affective Symptomatology and Neurocognitive Performance in College Athletes.

OBJECTIVES: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Perceived Fatigue Impact and Cognitive Variability in Multiple Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) and healthy controls (HCs) were evaluated on cognitive variability indices and we examined the relationship between fatigue and cognitive variability between these groups. Intraindividual variability (IIV) on a neuropsychological test battery was hypothesized to mediate the group differences expected in fatigue. METHOD: Fifty-nine PwMS and 51 HCs completed a psychosocial interview and battery of neuropsychological tests and questionnaires during a 1-day visit. Fatigue in this study was measured with the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS), a self-report multidimensional measure of fatigue. IIV was operationalized using two different measures, a maximum discrepancy score (MDS) and intraindividual standard deviation (ISD), in two cognitive domains, memory and attention/processing speed. Two mediation analyses with group (PwMS or HCs) as the independent variable, variability composite (memory or attention/processing speed) measures as the mediators, total residual fatigue (after accounting for age) as the outcome, and depression as a covariate were conducted. The Baron and Kenny approach to testing mediation and the PROCESS macro for testing the strength of the indirect effect were used. RESULTS: Results of a mediation analysis using 5000 bootstrap samples indicated that IIV in domains of both attention/processing speed and memory significantly mediated the effect of patient status on total residual fatigue. CONCLUSION: IIV is an objective performance measure that is related to differences in fatigue impact between PwMS and HCs. PwMS experience more variability across tests of attention/processing speed and memory and this experience of variable performance may increase the impact of fatigue.

Sensory-Motor and Affective-Fatigue Factors are Associated with Symbol Digit Performance in Multiple Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVES: The oral Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) has become the standard for the brief screening of cognitive impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). It has been shown to be sensitive to sensory-motor factors involving rudimentary oral motor speed and visual acuity, as well as multiple sclerosis (MS) affective-fatigue factors including depression, fatigue, and anxiety. The present study was designed to provide a greater understanding of these noncognitive factors that might contribute to the oral SDMT by examining all these variables in the same sample. METHODS: We examined 50 PwMS and 49 healthy controls (HCs). All participants were administered the oral SDMT, two sensory-motor tasks (visual acuity and oral motor speed), and three affective-fatigue measures (depression, fatigue, and anxiety). RESULTS: Partially consistent with hypotheses, we found that sensory-motor skills, but not affective-fatigue factors, accounted for some of the group differences between the MS and HC groups on the oral SDMT, reducing the MS/HC group variance predicted from 10% to 4%. Also, PwMS with below average sensory-motor abilities had oral SDMT scores that were lower than PwMS with intact sensory-motor skills (p < .05). Finally, 71% of PwMS in the below-average sensory-motor group were impaired on the oral SDMT compared with 14% of the intact group (p = .006). CONCLUSIONS: When the oral SDMT is used as the sole screening tool for cognitive impairment in MS, clinicians should know that limitations in visual acuity and rudimentary oral motor speed should be considered as possibly being associated with performance on it in MS.

Relationship Between Self-Reported Concomitant Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms and the Post-Concussion Symptoms Scale (PCSS).

OBJECTIVES: The current study explored how affective disturbances, particularly concomitant anxiety and depressive symptoms, impact baseline symptom self-reporting on the Post-Concussion Symptoms Scale (PCSS) in college athletes. METHODS: Athletes were separated into four groups (Healthy Control (HC) (n = 581), Depression Only (n = 136), Anxiety Only (n = 54), Concomitant Depression/Anxiety (n = 62)) based on their anxiety and depression scores. Groups were compared on Total PCSS Score as well as 5 PCSS Symptom Cluster scores (Cognitive, Physical, Affective, Sleep, and Headache). RESULTS: The three affective groups reported significantly greater symptomatology than HCs, with the Concomitant group showing the highest symptomatology scores across all clusters. The depressive symptoms only group also reported significantly elevated symptomatology, compared to HCs, on every symptom cluster except headache. The anxiety symptoms only group differed from HCs on only the cognitive symptoms cluster. Additionally, the Concomitant group reported significantly increased PCSS symptomatology, in terms of total scores and all 5 symptom clusters, compared to the depressive symptoms only and anxiety symptoms only groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that athletes experiencing concomitant depressive/anxiety symptoms report significantly greater levels of symptomatology across all 5 PCSS symptom clusters compared to HCs. Further, results suggest that athletes experiencing concomitant affective disturbance tend to report greater symptomatology than those with only one affective disturbance. These findings are important because, despite the absence of concussion, the concomitant group demonstrated significantly elevated symptomatology at baseline. Thus, future comparisons with post-concussion data should account for this increased symptomatology, as test results may be skewed by affective disturbances at baseline.

Symptom Factors and Neuropsychological Performance in Collegiate Athletes with Chronic Concussion Symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: The present study explored the relationship between specific types of postconcussion symptoms and cognitive outcomes in student-athletes with chronic concussion symptoms. METHOD: Forty student-athletes with chronic concussion symptoms were given a battery of neuropsychological tests and rated themselves on a variety of postconcussion symptoms, which included the following factors derived from prior work: Physical, Sleep, Cognitive, Affective, and Headache. Cognitive outcomes included performance on composites for the memory and attention/executive functioning speed tests, respectively. The following covariates were also explored: Sex, depression symptoms, number of previous concussions, and time since injury. RESULTS: Headache was the only individual symptom factor that significantly (p < .05) predicted worse attention/executive functioning performance. None of the symptom factors were significantly related to memory performance over and above the variable of time since injury, such that longer time since injury was related to worse memory performance. CONCLUSION: Comparable to work examining symptom predictors of cognitive outcomes in acutely concussed samples, headache predicted worse attention/executive functioning performance. Additionally, we found that the longer athletes had been symptomatic since injury, the "worse" their memory functioning. Understanding how headache and the length of time an individual is symptomatic are related to cognitive outcomes can help inform treatment and recommendations for athletes with prolonged symptom recovery.

Sleep Deprived or Concussed? The Acute Impact of Self-Reported Insufficient Sleep in College Athletes.

OBJECTIVE: Sleep deprivation is common among both college students and athletes and has been correlated with negative health outcomes, including worse cognition. As such, the current study sought to examine the relationship between sleep difficulties and self-reported symptoms and objective neuropsychological performance at baseline and post-concussion in collegiate athletes. METHOD: Seven hundred seventy-two collegiate athletes completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery at baseline and/or post-concussion. Athletes were separated into two groups based on the amount of sleep the night prior to testing. The sleep duration cutoffs for these group were empirically determined by sample mean and standard deviation (M = 7.07, SD = 1.29). RESULTS: Compared with athletes getting sufficient sleep, those getting insufficient sleep the night prior to baseline reported significantly more overall symptoms and more symptoms from each of the five symptom clusters of the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale. However, there were no significant differences on objective performance indices. Secondly, there were no significant differences on any of the outcome measures, except for sleep symptoms and headache, between athletes getting insufficient sleep at baseline and those getting sufficient sleep post-concussion. CONCLUSION: Overall, the effect of insufficient sleep at baseline can make an athlete appear similar to a concussed athlete with sufficient sleep. As such, athletes completing a baseline assessment following insufficient sleep could be underperforming cognitively and reporting elevated symptoms that would skew post-concussion comparisons. Therefore, there may need to be consideration of prior night's sleep when determining whether a baseline can be used as a valid comparison.

Neuropsychological test performance in depressed and nondepressed collegiate athletes following concussion.

OBJECTIVE: To examine neuropsychological test differences following concussion between collegiate athletes screening positive and negative for depression. METHOD: Participants included 113 (91 male) college athletes, who were assessed at baseline and following diagnosis of sport-related concussion (SRC). The Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen was used as a screener for depression. Athletes were categorized as either depressed (≥4) or nondepressed (<4) following injury and compared on composites for memory and attention-processing speed. Groups were also compared on reliable change index scores from baseline, as well as on proportion of impaired scores. RESULTS: Depressed athletes performed significantly worse than did nondepressed athletes on the Memory Composite (p = .04, d = .51) but not on the Attention-Processing Speed Composite score (p = .15, d = .46). Chi-square tests indicated that, compared with nondepressed athletes, a significantly higher number of depressed athletes showed reliable decreases on the following test indices: Verbal Memory Composite of the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (p = .03, φ = .21), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised Total (p = .02, φ = .22), and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised Total (p = .05, φ = .19). Chi-square test indicated that, compared with nondepressed athletes, a significantly higher proportion of depressed athletes met criteria for impairment (p = .02, φ = .23). CONCLUSION: Whether examining the data at the intraindividual or group level, there are memory deficits associated with the combination of an SRC and depression. The results highlight the importance of screening for depression to provide a more complete picture of an individual's functioning postconcussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Beyond Measures of Central Tendency: Novel Methods to Examine Sex Differences in Neuropsychological Performance Following Sports-Related Concussion in Collegiate Athletes.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine sex differences in neuropsychological functioning after sports-related concussion using several approaches to assess cognition: mean performance, number of impaired scores, and intraindividual variability (IIV). METHOD: In the study, 152 concussed college athletes were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests, on average, 10 days post-concussion (SD = 12.75; Mdn = 4 days; Range = 0-72 days). Mean performance was evaluated across 18 individual neuropsychological variables, and the total number of impaired test scores (>1.5 SD below the mean) was calculated for each athlete. Two measures of IIV were also computed: an intraindividual standard deviation (ISD) score and a maximum discrepancy (MD) score. RESULTS: Analyses of covariance revealed that, compared with males, females had significantly more impaired scores and showed greater variability on both IIV indices (ISD and MD scores) after adjusting for time since injury and post-concussive symptoms. In contrast, no significant effects of sex were found when examining mean neuropsychological performance. CONCLUSION: Although females and males demonstrated similar mean performance following concussion, females exhibited a greater level of cognitive impairment and larger inconsistencies in cognitive performance than males. These results suggest that evaluating cognitive indices beyond mean neuropsychological scores may provide valuable information when determining the extent of post-concussion cognitive dysfunction.

Change in Objective Measure of Empathic Accuracy Following Social Cognitive Training.

Background: The capacity for empathy plays an important role in interpersonal relationships and social functioning, and impairments in empathy can have negative effects on social interactions and overall social adjustment. This suggests that empathy may be a critical target for intervention in individuals who struggle with social interactions, yet it is unclear if the skills required for empathy are malleable. This study investigates the efficacy of targeted social cognitive training for improving empathic skills. Methods: Forty-five individuals (mean age = 24) were included in this study. Twenty-four individuals were allocated to the active social cognition training group and 21 individuals were allocated to a computer games control condition. Subjects completed approximately 10.5 h of training over two weeks. Pre- and post- training, they completed measures of empathy and emotion recognition, including the Interpersonal Reactivity Inventory (IRI) and an empathic accuracy task. ANOVA and regression analyses tested changes in participants' performance on the empathic accuracy task and scores on the IRI subscales were used to assess the effect of the social cognitive training. Results: Repeated measures ANOVA show that there is a significant group by timepoint interaction on the Empathic Accuracy task, with individuals who completed the social cognition training showing a significant improvement in performance following training. There were no significant changes for either group on any of the self-report IRI subscales. Individuals in the active training group show significant improvement on negative valence videos and a trend towards improvement on positive valence videos. In addition, individuals in social cognition active training group who reported higher intrinsic motivation demonstrated greater improvement on the Empathic Accuracy task. Conclusions: Individuals who completed a computerized social cognition training program demonstrated improved performance on a rater objective measure of empathic accuracy while individuals who completed a computer game control condition did not demonstrate any significant changes in their performance on the empathic accuracy task. These results suggest that targeted training in social cognition may increase empathic abilities, even in healthy individuals, and that this training may be beneficial to individuals with social cognitive deficits.

Cognitive Reserve Attenuates the Effect of Disability on Depression in Multiple Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: The current study explored the moderating role of cognitive reserve on the relationship between disability and depression in a sample of individuals in which brain pathology is thought to contribute to depression (multiple sclerosis; MS). METHOD: Fifty-four individuals with MS were examined. Depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS). In addition to collecting demographic (education) and disease burden (Expanded Disability Status Scale; EDSS) related variables, participants completed a neuropsychological test battery and psychosocial questionnaires. Cognitive reserve (CR) was conceptualized in two ways: Fixed CR and Malleable CR. Fixed CR was measured using years of education and crystallized intelligence (Shipley Vocabulary). Malleable CR was operationalized as a composite of measures from the Cognitive Heath Questionnaire (CHQ). Two regressions on depression (BDI-FS) examining either type of cognitive reserve, EDSS, and their interactions were explored. Results: The interaction between EDSS and both conceptualizations of cognitive reserve were significant, t(50) = -2.60, p = .013, PRE = .12 (Fixed CR); t(47) = -2.02, p = .049, PRE = .08 (Malleable CR). Simple effects testing revealed the same pattern regardless of the type of cognitive reserve examined; EDSS predicted depression only in those with low cognitive reserve. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive reserve moderates the relationship between disability and depression in MS; disability does not appear to influence depression in those with high cognitive reserve.

Validity of the ImPACT Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) Affective Symptom Cluster as a Screener for Depression in Collegiate Athletes.

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between depression and sports-related concussion is complex and has implications both pre- and post-injury. The current study established the construct validity, convergent and discriminant, of the affective symptom cluster of The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) post-concussion symptom scale (PCSS) as a screening tool for depression. METHOD: Nine hundred and thirty (M = 695, F = 235) college athletes were assessed at baseline using the ImPACT PCSS and Beck-Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS). Previous factor analysis identified four symptom clusters on the PCSS: affective, physical, cognitive, and sleep. Clinically significant depression was operationalized as a BDI-FS score ≥4. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves (ROC) were used to determine the ideal cutoff, Chi-square tests of independence were calculated to establish convergent validity, and Fisher's r-to-z comparisons were used to establish discriminant validity of the affective symptom cluster. RESULTS: The 90th percentile cutoff yielded the highest sensitivity and specificity on the affective symptom cluster for males (4) and females (6). The correlation between BDI-FS and the 90th percentile cutoff was statistically significantly higher in females (φ = .96) than males (φ = .83), Z = 9.49, p < .001. When correlating the BDI-FS with each PCSS symptom cluster, the correlation with the affective symptom cluster was stronger than its correlation with cognitive, sleep, and physical clusters across gender. DISCUSSION: By utilizing a measure of depression within an existing and commonly used assessment, clinicians can easily screen for depression and identify athletes at risk for complicated recovery even in the absence of a supplemental depression assessment.