School Issues in Children With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Deborah Roth Ledley and Radhika V. Pasupuleti

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent psychiatric problem, affecting approximately 2% to 4% of children and adolescents (see Douglass et al., 1995; Zohar, 1999). Approximately one half of adults with OCD report that their symptoms began during childhood (Rasmussen & Eisen, 1990). In children, OCD is more common in boys than in girls, but this gender difference disappears in adolescence (Flament et al., 1988). Due to the intrusive thoughts and distressing behaviors that are characteristic of OCD, it is associated with significant functional impairment in both adults and children (Hollander et al., 1996; Piacentini, Bergman, Keller, & McCracken, 2003).