Cognition and Educational Achievement in the Toronto Adolescent and Youth Cohort Study: Rationale, Methods, and Early Data

Lena C Quilty; Wanda Tempelaar; Brendan F Andrade; Sean A Kidd; Yona Lunsky; Sheng Chen; Wei Wang; Jimmy K Y Wong; Chloe Lau; Andrew B Sedrak; Rachel Kelly; Harijah Sivakumar; Melanie Jani; Stephanie H Ameis; Kristin Cleverley; Benjamin I Goldstein; Daniel Felsky; Erin W Dickie; George Foussias; Nicole Kozloff; Yuliya S Nikolova; Alexia Polillo; Andreea O Diaconescu; Anne L Wheeler; Darren B Courtney; Lisa D Hawke; Martin Rotenberg; Aristotle N Voineskos; TAY Cohort Study Team

doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.10.012

Cognition and Educational Achievement in the Toronto Adolescent and Youth Cohort Study: Rationale, Methods, and Early Data

Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2024 Mar;9(3):265-274. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.10.012. Epub 2023 Nov 17.

Authors

Lena C Quilty¹, Wanda Tempelaar¹, Brendan F Andrade¹, Sean A Kidd¹, Yona Lunsky¹, Sheng Chen², Wei Wang², Jimmy K Y Wong², Chloe Lau³, Andrew B Sedrak², Rachel Kelly², Harijah Sivakumar², Melanie Jani², Stephanie H Ameis¹, Kristin Cleverley¹, Benjamin I Goldstein¹, Daniel Felsky¹, Erin W Dickie¹, George Foussias¹, Nicole Kozloff¹, Yuliya S Nikolova¹, Alexia Polillo², Andreea O Diaconescu¹, Anne L Wheeler⁴, Darren B Courtney¹, Lisa D Hawke¹, Martin Rotenberg¹, Aristotle N Voineskos⁵; TAY Cohort Study Team

Collaborators

TAY Cohort Study Team:
Madison Aitken⁶, Stephanie H Ameis⁶, Brendan F Andrade⁶, Marco Battaglia⁶, Isabelle Boileau⁶, Kristin Cleverley⁶, Darren B Courtney⁶, Andreea O Diaconescu⁶, Erin W Dickie⁶, Daniel Felsky⁶, George Foussias⁶, Benjamin I Goldstein⁶, Vanessa Gonçalves⁶, John D Griffiths⁶, John D Haltigan⁷, Hayley Hamilton⁶, Lisa D Hawke⁶, Sean Hill⁶, Muhammad Omair Husain⁶, Melanie Jani⁷, Sean A Kidd⁶, Nicole Kozloff⁶, Paul Kurdyak⁶, Meng-Chuan Lai⁸, Stephen P Lewis⁹, Robert D Levitan⁶, Hsiang-Yuan Lin⁶, Yona Lunsky⁶, Akshay Mohan⁶, Yuliya S Nikolova⁶, Sam Osman⁷, Shannon Pascoe⁷, Alexia Polillo⁷, Connie Putterman⁷, Martin Rotenberg⁶, Dafna Sara Rubin-Kahana⁶, Lena C Quilty⁶, Harijah Sivakumar⁷, Peter Szatmari⁶, Wanda Tempelaar⁶, Neil Vasdev⁶, Wei Wang⁷, Anne L Wheeler¹⁰, Anna I R van der Miesen⁷, Erica L Vieira⁶, Aristotle N Voineskos⁶

Affiliations

¹ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Hospital for Sick Children, Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: Aristotle.Voineskos@camh.ca.
⁶ Campbell Centre for Mental Health Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Campbell Centre for Mental Health Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Campbell Centre for Mental Health Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taiwan.
⁹ University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada.
¹⁰ University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 37979945
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.10.012

Abstract

Background: Both cognition and educational achievement in youths are linked to psychosis risk. One major aim of the Toronto Adolescent and Youth (TAY) Cohort Study is to characterize how cognitive and educational achievement trajectories inform the course of psychosis spectrum symptoms (PSSs), functioning, and suicidality. Here, we describe the protocol for the cognitive and educational data and early baseline data.

Methods: The cognitive assessment design is consistent with youth population cohort studies, including the NIH Toolbox, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Wechsler Matrix Reasoning Task, and Little Man Task. Participants complete an educational achievement questionnaire, and report cards are requested. Completion rates, descriptive data, and differences across PSS status are reported for the first participants (N = 417) ages 11 to 24 years, who were recruited between May 4, 2021, and February 2, 2023.

Results: Nearly 84% of the sample completed cognitive testing, and 88.2% completed the educational questionnaire, whereas report cards were collected for only 40.3%. Modifications to workflows were implemented to improve data collection. Participants who met criteria for PSSs demonstrated lower performance than those who did not on numerous key cognitive indices (p < .05) and also had more academic/educational problems.

Conclusions: Following youths longitudinally enabled trajectory mapping and prediction based on cognitive and educational performance in relation to PSSs in treatment-seeking youths. Youths with PSSs had lower cognitive performance and worse educational outcomes than youths without PSSs. Results show the feasibility of collecting data on cognitive and educational outcomes in a cohort of youths seeking treatment related to mental illness and substance use.

Keywords: Cognition; Educational attainment; Functioning; Psychosis spectrum symptoms; Suicidality; Trajectories.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Cognition*
Cohort Studies
Educational Status
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychotic Disorders* / diagnosis