Executive Functioning, Family Accommodation, and Treatment Response in Youth with OCD and Comorbid ADHD in a Partial Hospital Program

Few studies have examined differential treatment response, rates of familial accommodation (FA), and executive functioning (EF) in youth with OCD vs. OCD + ADHD, particularly in a partial hospital program (PHP). The current study includes 138 youth diagnosed with OCD only and 102 youth diagnosed with OCD + ADHD in a PHP setting for a total sample of 240 youth (and their families). Families and clinicians completed several measures assessing child and parent variables of interest. Findings of ANCOVA analyses suggest poorer treatment response and EF in children with comorbid OCD + ADHD compared to their counterparts with OCD only. No significant differences emerged between groups in baseline levels of symptom severity, functional impairment, or FA. Given the high rate of comorbidity between OCD + ADHD, clinicians and researchers should be aware of the need to modify treatment approaches for children with comorbid OCD + ADHD and/or weaker EF performance.