Neuropsychological functioning in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: One size does not fit all

Previous studies examining neuropsychological functioning in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have presented heterogeneous results. To clarify if this variability could be related to the existence of discrete cognitive profiles, we conducted a cluster analysis to identify homogeneous groups of patients with similar neuropsychological performance in a sample of 61 children and adolescents with OCD. Then, each OCD group was compared to a matched control sample (n=40) with regard to their neuropsychological variables. Finally, demographic and clinical comparisons were conducted to investigate differences between the OCD groups. A two-cluster solution was identified. The first group (n=52, 85%) performed comparably to controls in all neuropsychological domains (“preserved”) whereas the second group (n=9, 15%) exhibited a poorer performance than controls in non-verbal memory (p< 0.01) and visuospatial abilities (p< 0.01). Contrary to our expectations, the two OCD groups did not differ in demographic and clinical variables. These findings support the presence of at least two cognitive profiles in children and adolescents with OCD, and begin to address the relationship between these discrete groups and clinical and functional factors.