A Meta-analytic Study on Executive Function Performance in Children/Adolescents with OCD

Authors

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.305411
Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Executive functions, Children, Adolescents

Abstract

Background: The main objective of this work was to carry out a meta-analytical study to examine performance in executive functions in children/adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method: A comprehensive literature search from 1984 to September 2021 was conducted, selecting a total of 20 published studies comparing executive function outcomes among a group of children and/or adolescents with OCD and a healthy control group. Results: Results showed that the total score on the quality scale of studies ranged between 3 and 8.5 points (on a scale of 0 to 9), with a mean of 6.6. The effect sizes in the different executive functions were as follows: Inhibition (d+ = -0.221), Cognitive flexibility (d+ = -0.418), Decision making (d+ = -0.169) and Planning (d+ = -0.319), indicating a lower performance in the OCD groups compared to the healthy control groups. Results were clinically significant in all domains except decision making. Publication bias could only be carried out in flexibility and response inhibition. Conclusions: OCD patients presented worse executive performance than healthy controls in all functions, highlighting cognitive flexibility and planning. However, results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    1551
  • pdf
    909

Author Biography

Ana Isabel Rosa-Alcázar, Universidad de Murcia

CATEDRÁTICA UNIVERSIDAD DE MURCIA, DEPARTAMENTO DE PERSONALIDAD, EVALUACIÓN Y TRATAMIENTO PSICOLÓGICO.

References

Abramovitch, A., & Cooperman, A. (2015). The cognitive neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A critical review. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 5, 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2015.01.002

Abramovitch, A., Abramowitz, J. S., & Mittelman, A. (2013). The neuropsychology of adult obsessive–compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(8), 1163-1171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.09.004

Abramovitch, A., Abramowitz, J. S., Mittelman, A., Stark, A., Ramsey, K., & Geller, D. A. (2015). Research review: Neuropsychological test performance in pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder a meta-analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(8), 837-847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.09.004

Abramovitch, A., McCormack, B., Brunner, D., Johnson, M., & Wofford, N. (2019). The impact of symptom severity on cognitive function in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 67, 36-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.09.003

Abramovitch, A., Mittelman, A., Tankersley, A. P., Abramowitz, J. S., & Schweiger, A. (2015). Neuropsychological investigations in obsessive- compulsive disorder: A systematic review of methodological challenges. Psychiatry Research, 228(1), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.04.025

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

*Andrés, S., Boget, T., Lázaro, L., Penadés, R., Morer, A., Salamero, M., & Castro-Fornieles, J. (2006). Neuropsychological performance in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder and influence of clinical variables. Biological Psychiatry, 61(8), 946-951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.0272006.07.027

*Andrés, S., Lázaro, L., Salamero, M., Boget, T., Penadés, R., & Castro-Fornieles, J. (2008). Changes in cognitive dysfunction in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder after treatment. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 42(6), 507-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2007.04.0042007.04.004

*Barua, D., Singh, S., Agarwal, D.V., Arya, A., & Barua, N. (2020). Executive functions, metacognitive beliefs, and thought control strategies in adolescents with obsessive compulsive disorder. IJRAR-International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR), 7(1), 672-680.

*Batistuzzo, M. C., Balardin, J. B., Martin, M. D. G. M., Hoexter, M. Q., Bernardes, E. T., Borcato, S., Souza, M.M., Querido C. N., Morais R. M., Alvarenga, P. G., Lopes, A. C., Shavitt, R. G., Savage, C.R., Amaro, E., Miguel, E.C., Polanczyk., G. V.,& Miotto, E. C. (2015). Reduced prefrontal activation in pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder during verbal episodic memory encoding. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(10), 849-858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2015.06.0202015.06.020

*Baykal, S., Karabekiroğlu, K., Şenses, A., Karakurt, M. N., Çalik, T., & Yüce, M. (2014). Neuropsychological and clinical profiles of children and adolescents diagnosed with childhood obsessive compulsive disorder. Nöro Psikiyatri Arşivi, 51(4), 334. https://doi.org/10.5152/npa.2014.6862

Bechara, A., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A. R. (2000). Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10(3), 295-307. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/10.3.295

*Beers, S. R., Rosenberg, D. R., Dick, E. L., Williams, T., O’Hearn, K. M., Birmaher, B., & Ryan, C. M. (1999). Neuropsychological study of frontal lobe function in psychotropic-naive children with obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(5), 777-779. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.5.777156.5.777

Borenstein, M. J., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J., & Rothstein, H. (2014). Comprehensive Meta-analysis Vers. 3.3 [Computer program]. Biostat, Inc.

Borenstein, M., & Hedges, L.V. (2019). Effect sizes for meta-analysis. In H. Cooper, L.V. Hedges, & J.C. Valentine (Eds.), The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis 3rd ed. (pp. 207-243). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Botella, J., & Sánchez-Meca, J. (2015). Meta-análisis en ciencias sociales y de la salud. Madrid: Síntesis [Meta-analysis in social and health sciences]

Bragdon, L. B., Gibb, B. E., & Coles, M. E. (2018). Does neuropsychological performance in OCD relate to different symptoms? A meta-analysis comparing the symmetry and obsessing dimensions. Depression and Anxiety, 35(8), 761-774. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22785

Canals, J., Hernández-Martínez, C., Cosi, S., & Voltas, N. (2012). The epidemiology of obsessive–compulsive disorder in Spanish school children. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26(7), 746-752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.06.003

Carlson, S. M., & Wang, T. S. (2007). Inhibitory control and emotion regulation in preschool children. Cognitive Development, 22(4), 489-510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2007.08.002

*Carrasco, M., Harbin, S. M., Nienhuis, J. K., Fitzgerald, K. D., Gehring, W. J., & Hanna, G. L. (2013). Increased error related brain activity in youth with obsessive compulsive disorder and unaffected siblings. Depression and Anxiety, 30(1), 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.2203522035

Chevalier, N., & Blaye, A. (2008). Cognitive flexibility in preschoolers: The role of representation activation and maintenance. Developmental Science, 11(3), 339-353. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00679.x

Cohen, N. J., McCloskey, M., & Wible, C. G. (1988). There is still no case for a flashbulb-memory mechanism: Reply to Schmidt and Bohannon. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 336-338. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.117.3.336

Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750

Eagle, D. M., Bari, A., & Robbins, T. W. (2008). The neuropsychopharmacology of action inhibition: Cross-species translation of the stop-signal and go/no-go tasks. Psychopharmacology, 199(3), 439-456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-008-1127-6

*Erhan, C., Bulut, G. Ç., Gökçe, S., Ozbas, D., Turkakin, E., Dursun, O. B., & Balci F. (2017). Disrupted latent decision processes in medication-free pediatric OCD patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 207, 32-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.09.0112016.09.011

*Geller, D. A., Abramovitch, A., Mittelman, A., Stark, A., Ramsey, K., Cooperman, A., & Stewart, S. E. (2017). Neurocognitive function in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 19(2), 142-151.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2017.128217315622975.2017.1282173

*Hanna, G. L., Carrasco, M., Harbin, S. M., Nienhuis, J. K., LaRosa, C. E., Chen, P., & Gehring, W. J. (2013). Error-related negativity and tic history in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(9), 902-910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2012.06.0192012.06.019

*Hanna, G. L., Liu, Y., Isaacs, Y. E., Ayoub, A. M., Torres, J. J., O’Hara, N. B., & Gehring, W. J. (2016). Withdrawn/depressed behaviors and error-related brain activity in youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 55(10), 906-913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2016.06.0122016.06.012

Harvey, P. O., Le Bastard, G., Pochon, J. B., Levy, R., Allilaire, J. F., Dubois, B. E. E. A., & Fossati, P. (2004). Executive functions and updating of the contents of working memory in unipolar depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 38(6), 567-576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2004.03.003

Higgins, J. P., Thompson, S. G., Deeks, J. J., & Altman, D. G. (2003). Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. British Medical Journal, 327(7414), 557-560. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7414.557

*Hybel, K. A., Mortensen, E. L., Lambek, R., Thastum, M., & Thomsen, P. H. (2017). Cool and hot aspects of executive function in childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45(6), 1195–1205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0229-6

*Kodaira, M., Iwadare, Y., Ushijima, H., Oiji, A., Kato, M., Sugiyama, N., Sasayama, D., Usami, M., Watanabe, K., & Saito, K. (2012). Poor performance on the Iowa gambling task in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Annals of General Psychiatry 11(25). https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-859X-11-2511-25

Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411429458

Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & Prisma Group. (2009). Reprint preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. Physical Therapy, 89(9), 873-880. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/89.9.873

*Negreiros, J., Belschner, L., Best, J. R., Lin, S., Franco Yamin, D., Joffres, Y., Selles, R.R., Jaspers-Fayer, F., Miller, L. D., Woodward, T. S., Honer, W.G., & Stewart, S. E. (2019). Neurocognitive risk markers in pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(5), 605-613. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13153ll

*Ornstein, T. J., Arnold, P., Manassis, K., Mendlowitz, S., & Schachar, R. (2010). Neuropsychological performance in childhood OCD: A preliminary study. Depression and Anxiety, 27(4), 372-380. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.2063820638

*Ota, T., Iida, J., Sawada, M., Suehiro, Y., Yamamuro, K., Matsuura, H., Tanaka, S., Kishimoto, N., Negoro, H., & Kishimoto, T. (2013). Reduced prefrontal hemodynamic response in pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 44(2), 265–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0323-010578-012-0323-0

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J., Akl, E., Brennan, S., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M., Li, M., Loder, E., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S… & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews, 10(89). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-021-01626-4

Rosa-Alcázar, Á., Olivares-Olivares, P. J., Martínez-Esparza, I. C., Parada-Navas, J. L., Rosa-Alcázar, A. I., & Olivares-Rodríguez, J. (2020). Cognitive flexibility and response inhibition in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 20(1), 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2019.07.006

Rothstein, H. R., Sutton, A. J., & Borenstein, M. (Eds.) (2005). Publication bias in meta-analysis: Prevention, assessment and adjustments. Chichester, England: Wiley.

*Rubia, K., Cubillo, A., Smith, A. B., Woolley, J., Heyman, I., & Brammer, M. J. (2010). Disorder specific dysfunction in right inferior prefrontal cortex during two inhibition tasks in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder compared to boys with obsessive–compulsive disorder. Human Brain Mapping, 31(2), 287-299. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.2086420864

*Shin, M. S., Choi, H., Kim, H., Hwang, J. W., Kim, B. N., & Cho, S. C. (2008). A study of neuropsychological deficit in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder. European Psychiatry, 23(7), 512-520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2008.03.0102008.03.010

Shin, N. Y., Lee, T. Y., Kim, E., & Kwon, J. S. (2014). Cognitive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 44(6), 1121-1130. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291713001803

Snyder, H. R., Kaiser, R. H., Warren, S. L., & Heller, W. (2015). Obsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with broad impairments in executive function: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychological Science, 3(2), 301-330 https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702614534210

Soprano, A. M. (2003). Evaluación de las funciones ejecutivas en el niño. Revista de Neurología, 37(1), 44-50.

Subirà, M., Cano Català, M., Wit, S. J. D., Alonso Ortega, M. D. P., Cardoner, N., Hoexter, M. Q., & Brain Imaging Consortium (2016). Structural covariance of neostriatal and limbic regions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 41(2), 115-123. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.150012

*Taner, Y. I., Bakar, E. E., & Oner, O. (2011). Impaired executive functions in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 23(6), 272-28 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-5215.2011.00562.

Teubner-Rhodes, S., Vaden Jr, K. I., Dubno, J. R., & Eckert, M. A. (2017). Cognitive persistence: Development and validation of a novel measure from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Neuropsychologia, 102, 95-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.05.027

Tsukiura, T., Fujii, T., Takahashi, T., Xiao, R., Inase, M., Iijima, T., & Okuda, J. (2001). Neuroanatomical discrimination between manipulating and maintaining processes involved in verbal working memory; a functional MRI study. Cognitive Brain Research, 11(1), 13-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0926-6410(00)00059-8

Waters, A. M., & Farrell, L. J. (2014). Response inhibition to emotional faces in childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3(1), 65-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2013.12.004

Wolff, N., Buse, J., Tost, J., Roessner, V., & Beste, C. (2017). Modulations of cognitive flexibility in obsessive compulsive disorder reflect dysfunctions of perceptual categorization. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(8), 939-949. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12733

*Woolley, J., Heyman, I., Brammer, M., Frampton, I., McGuire, P. K., & Rubia, K. (2008). Brain activation in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder during tasks of inhibitory control. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 192(1), 25-31. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.107.036558107.036558

Published
27-08-2022
How to Cite
López-Hernández, P. ., Sánchez-Meca, J., Rosa-Alcázar, Ángel, & Rosa-Alcázar, A. I. (2022). A Meta-analytic Study on Executive Function Performance in Children/Adolescents with OCD. Anales De Psicología Annals of Psychology, 38(3), 478–488. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.305411
Issue
Section
Clinical and Health Psychology

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.