The impact of neuropsychological functioning on treatment outcome in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

Although alternative explanations exist, these findings suggest that poorer performance on the ROCF and, in turn, poorer response to treatment, particularly among those youths receiving CBT alone, may be due to executive functioning difficulties. Clinicians and researchers should be sensitive to this fact and may warrant modification(s) to existing treatment protocols. Limitations to this study, however, suggest the need for replication and extension of these findings in the future.

Neuroimaging and neuropsychological findings in pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder: a review and developmental considerations

“…Similarly, impairments on the three test conditions were found in pediatric OCD samples [130,132]. Others found impairment only on the copy condition [131] and others reported intact performance on this test [133].…”

“…A review of more recent research implicates executive function and nonverbal memory deficiencies in pediatric OCD. In the nonverbal memory domain, a handful of studies reveal impaired performance on the ROCF [130,131]. Whereas this test is designed to assess nonverbal memory, performance on the copy condition enables inference regarding visual construction abilitites.…”

Personalizing the Treatment of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Evidence for Predictors and Moderators of Treatment Outcomes

“…Covarying ADHD symptoms, treatment responders performed significantly better than non-responders on 5-min recall accuracy (raw score) and percent recall from the ROCF [68]. In a sample of 56 youth, 7-17 years old, subscales of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) [69] were tested as predictors of outcomes in an RCT of weekly CBT with one of the following three drug arms: sertraline with regular titration, sertraline with slow titration, and pill placebo [70].…”

“…Deficits in recall [68], spatial ability [19], and emotional control [70] might interfere with positive treatment response.…”

“…Summary A small number of studies [18,19,68,70] have examined neuropsychological predictors of treatment outcomes; they have been limited by small samples and/or have collapsed across treatment conditions. Deficits in recall [68], spatial ability [19], and emotional control [70] might interfere with positive treatment response.…”