Neuropsychological characteristics in children with oppositional defiant disorder

Abstract

There are few studies about the performance of cognitive functions in children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), this knowledge being relevant for the assessment and treatment of the disorder. The aim of this study was to identify the neuropsychological characteristics of 13 children with ODD, compared with 18 children with similar sociodemographic characteristics without ODD, all of them from 7 to 12 years old. We performed a descriptive-comparative, cross-sectional study, confirming the diagnostic criteria through a structured diagnostic interview. We applied the Child Neuropsychological Assessment battery to compare the neuropsychological characteristics of both groups. The children with ODD showed a poorer performance in graphic skills, linguistic comprehension, metalinguistic skills, conceptual skills, deferred verbal memory, verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, and planning-organization. These characteristics are similar to those found in children with conduct disorder, indicating that children with these disorders share neuropsychological deficits that should be considered clinically.