The clinical presentation of major depressive disorder in youth with co-occurring obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common in youth and among the most frequent comorbid disorders in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but it is unclear whether the presence of OCD affects the symptom presentation of MDD in youth.
Methods: A sample of youth with OCD and MDD (n = 124) and a sample of youth with MDD but no OCD (n = 673) completed the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A). The overall and symptom-level presentation of MDD were examined using group comparisons and network analysis.
Results: Youth with MDD and OCD, compared to those with MDD and no OCD, had more severe MDD (Cohen's d = 0.39) and more reported moderate to severe depression (75 % vs 61 %). When accounting for demographic variables and the overall severity of MDD, those with comorbid OCD reported lower levels of anhedonia and more severe difficulties with psychomotor retardation/agitation. No significant differences in the interconnections among symptoms emerged.
Limitations: Data were cross-sectional and self-reported, gold standard diagnostic tools were not used to assess OCD, and the sample size for the group with MDD and OCD was relatively small yielding low statistical power for network analysis.
Conclusions: Youth with MDD and OCD have more severe MDD than those with MDD and no OCD and they experience more psychomotor issues and less anhedonia, which may relate to the behavioral activation characteristic of OCD.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Ms. Strouphauer, Mr. Valenzuela-Florez, Mr. Elmore, and Drs. Minhajuddin, Slater, Riddle, Guzick, Hettema, Wakefield, Pinciotti, Tonarelli, and Gushanas do not have any conflicts to declare. Dr. Soutullo reports for the period 2018–2022 non-personal research funds from Lundbeck and Janssen; is a consultant/advisory board member of Editorial Médica Panamericana, EUNETHYDIS (European Network on Hyperkinetic Disorder), NeuroTech Solutions Ltd. (Israel), Limbix Health DSMB (United States), MEDEA (Spain), Tech Innosphere Engineering LTD (Germany), and Shire/now part of Takeda (Spain); received speaker's bureau fees from Bial (Portugal), Cuquerella Medical Consulting (Spain), Medice (Germany), Rubio (Spain), Tecnofarma (Peru), and Shire/now part of Takeda (Spain), and royalties from Editorial Médica Panamericana (Spain). Dr. Goodman receives research fundings from NIH, Biohaven, and the McNair Foundation, royalties from Proem related to the licensing of the YBOCS scales, and consulting fee from Biohaven. Dr. Trivedi has provided consulting services to Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Alkermes Inc., Alto Neuroscience Inc, Axsome Therapeutics, Biogen MA Inc, Cerebral Inc., Circular Genomics Inc., Compass Pathfinder Limited, GH Research, GreenLight VitalSign6 Inc, Heading Health, Janssen Pharmaceutical, Legion Health, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Mind Medicine Inc., Myriad Neuroscience, Naki Health Ltd, Navitor, Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., Noema Pharma AG, Orexo US Inc., Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc, Perception Neuroscience Holdings, Pharmerit International, Policy Analysis Inc., Praxis Precision Medicines Inc, PureTech LYT Inc, Relmada Therapeutics Inc., Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., SAGE Therapeutics, Signant Health, Sparian Biosciences, Titan Pharmaceuticals, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Inc, WebMD. He has received grant/research funding from NIMH, NIDA, NCATS, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. Additionally, he has received editorial compensation from Engage Health Media, and Oxford University Press. Dr. Storch reports receiving research funding to his institution from the Ream Foundation, International OCD Foundation, and NIH. He was formerly a consultant for Brainsway and Biohaven Pharmaceuticals in the past 12 months. He owns stock less than $5000 in NView. He receives book royalties from Elsevier, Wiley, Oxford, American Psychological Association, Guildford, Springer, Routledge, and Jessica Kingsley Dr. Cervin receives research support from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, the Lindhaga Foundation, Stiftelsen Clas Grochinskys Minnesfond, the Crown Princess Lovisa's Association, Region Skåne, Fonden för Psykisk Hälsa, and Skåne University Hospital's Foundations and Donations; and financial compensation from Springer for editorial work outside of the submitted work.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)