(PS12-99) Self-reported Executive Function Predicting ODD Symptomology

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5^th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) has long been a distinct disorder in childhood including an estimated prevalence of 10.2% from a national survey sample (Nock et al., 2007) and has been found to be significantly more prevalent among boys but only in Western cultures (Demmer et al., 2017). ODD consists of symptoms including an irritable or angry mood, arguing with an authoritative figure, or deliberately annoying others. ODD symptomology has been found to still be prevalent in adulthood with 3.39-4.12% of college students reporting four or more symptoms (Johnston et al., 2018). The purpose of this study is to determine whether the behavior regulation index scales are predictive of ODD symptomology as past research has characterized ODD as an emotion regulation disorder (Cavanaugh et al., 2017).

            As a part of a larger study, 54 college students attended a laboratory session to complete a Qualtrics survey measuring self-reported ODD symptomology using the Oppositional Defiant Behavior Inventory (ODBI; Harda et al., 2004) and executive functioning using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function for Adults (BRIEF-A; Roth et al., 2005). Higher scores on the ODBI and BRIEF-A indicate increased ODD symptomology and executive function (EF) deficits respectively. We use the behavior regulation index (BRI) from the BRIEF-A consisting of four clinical scales: inhibit, resisting impulses, shift, the ability to transition, tolerate change, problem-solve flexibly, and shift one’s attention, emotional control, regulate one’s emotions, and self-monitor, the awareness of the effect your behaviors have on others.

A linear regression was calculated to determine whether the four BRIEF-A BRI clinical scales were able to predict ODBI scores. The BRIEF-A Shift (beta = 0.95, p = 0.027) and Emotional Control scales (beta = 0.55, p = 0.017) each predicted unique variance of ODD symptomology, controlling for sex. These results indicate increased difficulties in making transitions, tolerating change, problem-solving flexibility, alternating one’s attention, and emotion regulation predict an increase in ODD symptomology. The overall model was significant (F (5, 47) = 15.06, p < .001) with an R² of .616.

These findings are important as past research has associated ODD symptomology with decreased visual working memory, inhibition control, and recognition of anger compared to controls (XU et al., 2017). These findings are also consistent for individuals diagnosed with ODD show increased irritability, emotional challenges, and cognitive inflexibility (Braenden et al., 2023) auto-aggressions (Muratori et al., 2017), and perform substantially worse in EF tasks, specifically response inhibition (Manfei et al., 2017). Studies have also found ODD and conduct disorder symptoms predict more workplace problems, poor maternal relationships, lower academic attainment, violent injuries (Burke et al., 2013), and lower quality of life (Szentivanyi & Balazs, 2018) illustrating the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.