Psychopathology of cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS): a network analysis based on CBCL scales in 72,106 Chinese school students

Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS) is a cluster of behavioral problems that severely affect an individual's functioning. Currently, there is no consensus on the main clinical features of CDS, and further exploration in large samples is needed. Using a cluster-stratified random sampling method, 72,106 children and adolescents were recruited from five provinces in mainland China for this study. Using both the traditional two-factor scoring method and the CBCL DSM-oriented scales, we assessed individual behavioral problems from psychopathological and DSM-oriented perspectives. Network analysis was employed to explore the relationship between CDS and behavioral problems. The various networks were compared by gender and age subgroups. Among 72,106 participants (mean age, 11.49 years; minimum age, 5 years; maximum age, 16 years), there were 36,449 males (50.5%) and 35,657 females (49.5%). From a psychopathological perspective, the motor symptoms node was associated with the sad node and the withdrawn node, while the cognitive symptoms node was linked to the nervous node and the self-conscious node. In terms of gender, males had stronger associations of the motor symptoms node with the sad node and the withdrawn node than females (P = 0.043), and weaker associations of the cognitive symptoms node with the nervous node than females (P = 0.027). In terms of growth stage, the adolescent group had stronger associations of the cognitive symptoms node with the nervous node and the self-conscious node than the child group (P = 0.016, 0.001). From DSM perspective, motor symptoms node were associated with sad node, and cognitive symptoms node were related to can't concentrate node, nervous node, and worthless node. With increasing age, there was an upward trend in the strength of the cognitive and motor symptoms node. CDS is closely linked to psychological and behavioral issues, especially internalizing problems, with differences observed by gender and growth stage. The connection between CDS and the affective, anxiety, and ADH symptoms is particularly pronounced.