Characteristics of child psychiatric outpatients with slow processing speed and potential mechanisms of academic impact

AbstractWhile slow processing speed (PS) is well documented in youth with ADHD, growing evidence suggests that this difficulty affects children with other neuropsychiatric conditions. Clarifying the relationship between slow PS and different forms of psychopathology is important clinically, given the potential impact of PS on academic functioning, and conceptually. In 751 youth, ages 6 –21, consecutively referred for neuropsychiatric evaluation, we examined the association between slow PS (i.e., Wechsler PS Index <  85) and seven neuropsychiatric diagnostic groups. In 492 of these youth, we also related slow PS to eight psychopathology symptom dimensions. Finally, we modeled the relationship between PS, other cognitive functions and academic achievement. Data are from the Longitudinal Study of Genetic Influe nces on Cognition. Analyses included one-samplettests, ANOVA, logistic regression, mixed modeling, and structural equation modeling (SEM), controlling for age, sex, and medication. Compared to normative data, all clinical groups showed PS decrements. Compared to referred youth without full diagnoses and accounting for other psychopathology, risk for slow PS was elevated in youth with autism spectrum disorder (OR  = 1.8), psychotic disorders (OR = 3.4) and ADHD-inattentive type (OR = 1.6). Having multiple comorbidities also increased risk for slow PS. Among dimensions, inattention (OR = 1.5) associated with slow PS but did not fully explain the ass...
Source: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research