Children with oppositional-defiant disorder display deviant attentional processing independent of ADHD symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

To examine neurophysiological correlates of attentional processing in children with oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) independent of ADHD symptoms.

METHOD: Thirteen children with oppositional-defiant disorder without comorbid ADHD symptoms and 13 healthy control children (all 11 years) performed a cued Continuous Performance Test (CPT-AX). Event-related potentials (ERP) to cue and target stimuli were examined for group differences.

RESULTS

Children with ODD showed significantly reduced parietal P3a and P3b amplitudes to cues and to targets, compared with healthy controls. ERP amplitudes correlated with oppositional and aggressive behavior scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Event-related potentials revealed reduced orienting to cues and reduced executive target processing in children with ODD. These findings indicate that ODD children show neurophysiological deviances independent of ADHD comorbidity.