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. 2025 May 9.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-025-01846-y. Online ahead of print.

The Impact of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder on School Attendance and School Functioning: A Case for Supported Education

Lorena Fernández de la Cruz  1   2 , Daniel Rautio  3   4 , Frida Wickberg  4 , Cecilia Gordan  4 , Maria Silverberg-Mörse  4 , David Mataix-Cols  3   4   5
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The Impact of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder on School Attendance and School Functioning: A Case for Supported Education

Lorena Fernández de la Cruz et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. .

Abstract

School-related functional impairment is common in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, little is known about the characteristics of youth with OCD who struggle in school, whether these struggles interfere with treatment outcomes, and whether treatment improves school-related function. Among 385 youth with OCD at a specialist clinic (mean age [sd] = 13.7 [2.5]; 63.1% girls), 21.6% had partial or no school attendance at intake. Among those who received specialist treatment (n = 322), clinical outcomes were similar in those with no or partial attendance vs. those with full attendance, although the latter group needed fewer treatment sessions and were less likely to take psychotropic medication. At post-treatment, 10.5% still had partial or no school attendance, and 22.8% of youths and 33.3% of parents reported significant school impairment, regardless of response status. Some youth with OCD may benefit from specific supported education and return to school strategies to complement regular evidence-based interventions.

Keywords: Education; Functional impairment; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; School function; Treatment outcomes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing Interests: L.F.C. receives royalties for contributing articles to UpToDate and Wolters Kluwer Health and personal fees for editorial work from Elsevier, all outside the submitted work. D.M.C. receives royalties for contributing articles to UpToDate and Wolters Kluwer Health, occasional payments from funding agencies as an external grant reviewer, and is part owner of Scandinavian E-Health, AB, all outside the submitted work. All other authors report no competing interests.

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