Neurocognitive deficits have been associated with suicidal behavior in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD), but it is unclear if similar impairments are linked to youth suicidal behavior. This study compared neurocognitive functioning in suicidal and non-suicidal youth with a lifetime history of MDD and explored whether neurocognitive functioning predicted future suicide attempts.

Neurocognition was examined using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) in 309 youths ages 12–15 (117 suicide attempters; 132 suicidal ideators; 60 never-suicidal). Prospective analyses included 284 youths (41 youth with a future attempt; 243 without a future attempt). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) yielded a significant group-by-sex interaction effect [Wilks’ Λ = 0.901, F (16, 560) = 1.87, p = .021] for the primary neurocognitive outcomes, guiding the decision to stratify the sample by sex. Female suicide attempters and ideators were slower to respond correctly to both positive and negative emotion words than never-suicidal controls on tests of affective bias. Male suicide attempters and ideators made significantly more total and between errors than never-suicidal subjects. Exploratory analyses found that total commission errors on the Affective Go/No-Go (AGN) test significantly predicted future suicide attempts in females, and that higher strategy scores on Spatial Working Memory (SWM) tests predicted future male attempts. Study findings identified sex-specific neurocognitive deficits that differentiate suicidal and non-suicidal youth with histories of MDD. Extended longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the temporal association between neurocognitive impairments and suicidal behavior and frame targets for early preventive interventions.

神经认知缺陷与患有重度抑郁症 (MDD) 的成年人的自杀行为有关，但尚不清楚类似的损害是否与青少年的自杀行为有关。本研究比较了终生患有 MDD 的自杀和非自杀青年的神经认知功能，并探讨了神经认知功能是否能预测未来的自杀企图。

使用剑桥神经心理测试自动电池 (CANTAB) 和爱荷华州赌博任务 (IGT) 对 309 名 12-15 岁的年轻人（117 名自杀未遂者；132 名有自杀念头者；60 名从未有过自杀倾向的人）的神经认知进行了检查。前瞻性分析包括 284 名青年（41 名有未来尝试的青年；243 名没有未来尝试的青年）。多变量方差分析 (MANOVA) 对主要神经认知结果产生了显着的按性别分组的交互作用 [Wilks' Λ = 0.901, F (16, 560) = 1.87, p = .021]，指导决策分层按性别抽样。在情感偏见测试中，女性自杀未遂者和思想者对积极和消极情绪词的正确反应比从不自杀的对照更慢。与从未自杀的受试者相比，男性自杀未遂者和思想者犯的错误明显更多。探索性分析发现，Affective Go/No-Go (AGN)测试的总佣金错误显着预测了女性未来的自杀企图，并且在空间工作记忆 (SWM)上的策略得分更高测试预测了未来的男性尝试。研究结果确定了性别特异性神经认知缺陷，这些缺陷将自杀和非自杀青年与 MDD 的历史区分开来。需要扩展的纵向研究来阐明神经认知障碍和自杀行为之间的时间关联，并为早期预防干预制定框架目标。