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A study of neuropsychological deficit in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2008

Min-Sup Shin ,
Hyunjung Choi ,
Hana Kim ,
Jun-Won Hwang ,
Boong-Nyun Kim  and
Soo-Churl Cho
Min-Sup Shin*
Affiliation:
Department of Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hyunjung Choi
Affiliation:
Department of Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hana Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Jun-Won Hwang
Affiliation:
Department of Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Boong-Nyun Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Soo-Churl Cho
Affiliation:
Department of Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Youngon-Dong, Chongno-Gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2072 2454; fax: +82 2 744 7241. E-mail address: shinms@snu.ac.kr
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Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the neuropsychological deficits in children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Furthermore, the focus of present study was to explore whether OCD children show the same executive dysfunction as adult OCD patients. The participants consisted of 106 children between the ages of 6 and 16 years who visited the department of child-adolescent psychiatry, Seoul National University Children's Hospital (17 OCD, 25 ADHD, 21 tic disorder, 20 depressive disorder, and 23 healthy children). The OCD children showed higher verbal ability compared to other psychiatric groups, but performed the worst on WISC-R subtests assessing perceptual organization ability under time pressure. The OCD children did not show any significant deficits in verbal intellectual function, memory, attention and concentration abilities. However, similar to the ADHD children, the OCD children had significantly more errors and completed fewer categories on the WCST compared to the healthy group. Through neuropsychological tests, the OCD children showed cognitive strength and weakness similar to those of OCD adults that were reported in previous research. Specifically, they had executive function deficits in mental set shifting, supporting the frontal-striatal dysfunction hypothesis of OCD in children as well as in adults.

Keywords

Childhood OCDNeuropsychological deficitExecutive function
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 23 , Issue 7 , October 2008 , pp. 512 - 520
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2008

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