Affective and neuropsychological correlates of children's rituals and compulsive-like behaviors: continuities and discontinuities with obsessive-compulsive disorder

This study explored the relations among ritualistic and compulsive-like behavior, fears, and neuropsychological performance in typically developing children between the ages of four and eight years. Forty-two children were administered a battery of neuropsychological tasks assessing response inhibition and set-shifting. Two parent-report questionnaires assessed the intensity of children's fears and compulsive-like behaviors ("just right" perceptions and repetitive behaviors). For younger children (72 months), set-shifting and response inhibition accounted for significant variance in their ritualistic, compulsive-like behaviors. For older children (>72 months), a combination of neuropsychological (response inhibition) and affective (animal fears and social anxiety) factors predicted compulsive-like behaviors. These findings suggest that common neuropsychological mechanisms underlie compulsive, ritualistic behavior exhibited in normal development and in obsessive-compulsive disorder.