Exploring decision-making performance in young adults with mental health disorders: a comparative study using the Cambridge Gambling Task

Abstract

Background: decision-making deficits, assessed cognitively, are often associated with mental health symptoms, however, this relationship is not fully understood. This paper explores the relationship between mental health disorders and decision-making, using the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT).

Methods: our study investigated how decision-making varied across 20 different mental health conditions compared to controls in a sample of 572 young adults from the Minneapolis and Chicago metropolitan areas, using a computerised laboratory-based task.

Results: almost all mental health conditions were associated with at least mild (i.e., at least small effect size) impairment in all three studied parameters of the CGT (risk adjustment, quality of decision-making and overall proportion of bet). Notably, binge eating disorder had the largest cognitive impairment and gambling disorder had moderate impairment. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was associated with impaired decision-making while obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression showed moderate impairment. Additionally, half of the disorders assessed had moderate to large impairment in risk adjustment.

Conclusion: these findings suggest that mental health conditions may have a more complex cognitive profile than previously thought, and a better understanding of these impairments may aid in risk assessment and targeted clinical interventions. This study underscores the need for further research to determine the causal pathways between mental health conditions and cognition, as well as to better understand the day-to-day impact of such deficits.

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ORCID for Sam Chamberlain: orcid.org/0000-0001-7014-8121

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