The Prevalence, Sociodemographic, and Comorbidity Characteristics of Turkish Children with Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome

Objective: Cognitive disengagement syndrome, formerly known as sluggish cognitive tempo, is defined as mental fogginess, daydreaming, and sluggishness. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of children with cognitive disengagement syndrome and to examine the relationship between cognitive disengagement syndrome and psychiatric disorders. Methods: About 268 randomly chosen Turkish primary school children aged 7-11 years from 4 different cities were included in this study. Both teachers and parents completed the cognitive disengagement syndrome scanning scale of the Child Behavior Checklist and the Barkley Child Attention Survey. Psychiatric diagnoses in children were assessed using a semi-structured clinical interview. Four separate cognitive disengagement syndrome measurements were performed, matching informants with scales. Results: The prevalence of cognitive disengagement syndrome was estimated with a range of 4.9%-10.9%, depending on the way of measurement. Logistic regression analyses revealed that paternal psychopathology (odds ratio=6.7) and low maternal education (odds ratio=3.1) increased while advanced maternal age (odds ratio=0.7) decreased the risk of cognitive disengagement syndrome. Although cognitive disengagement syndrome was found to be more prevalent in children with chronic diseases, this association no longer remained in the full logistic regression model. Attention-defic it/hyperactivity disorder was the most observed disorder and accompanied 42.9%-75% of the cases with higher cognitive disengagement syndrome. However, there was no strong support in favor of associations between cognitive disengagement syndrome and depression and anxiety as a whole. Conclusion: This study provides the first estimates regarding the prevalence and the sociodemographic characteristics of Turkish children with cognitive disengagement syndrome. Cognitive disengagement syndrome seems to be relatively more prevalent in Turkey than in Western cultures. Children whose fathers had a psychiatric disorder, whose mothers had low education, and who were at younger ages should be scrutinized for cognitive disengagement syndrome.