Abstract / Summary
Abstract Childhood adversities and trauma (CAT) are linked to cognitive impairment, but their effects may vary across clinical profiles and in the presence of ongoing environmental stressors. We investigated CAT-cognition associations across recent-onset psychosis (ROP), clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR), recent-onset depression (ROD), and healthy controls (HC), and whether recent life events and perceived discrimination moderated these associations. We used baseline data from the PRONIA cohort (ROP: N = 150; CHR: N = 142; ROD: N = 148; HC: N = 282). Cognitive performance was assessed across social cognition, speed of processing, working and verbal memory, attention, and global cognition. Associations were tested using covariate-adjusted linear regression models based on HC-derived normative residualization, followed by moderation analyses. In ROP, higher CAT were associated with increased speed of processing (β = 0.29, p fdr = .046). In CHR, CAT was associated with poorer social cognition, but higher attention and working memory scores (b = -0.20 to 0.44, p fdr ≤ .042). In HC, increased physical neglect was associated with poorer attention (b = -0.64, p fdr < .001). Perceived discrimination moderated associations between emotional abuse and attention in the ROP group (β = -4.721, 95% CI [-7.81, -1.63]), and between emotional abuse and social cognition in the ROD group (β = 7.834, 95% CI [2.430, 13.238]). CAT-cognition associations were heterogeneous across clinical groups, with perceived discrimination moderating specific associations. Relationships between CAT, particularly emotional neglect, and cognitive performance is not uniform but may vary depending on clinical context and ongoing psychosocial stressors.