Moderating Executive Functions in the Relationship Between Anxiety and Depression Symptoms and Response to Drug Therapy

Poor executive functions are potentially risky for psychopathologyand can reduce response to treatment. This study aimed to investigate themoderating role of executive functions in the relationship between anxiety anddepression symptoms and response to drug therapy.

The correlation method was used in this study. The statisticalpopulation was adult outpatients with anxiety disorders and depression whoreferred to psychiatric clinics of Bojnourd city. One hundred and sixty-fourparticipants completed the Outcome Questionnaire, Brief Symptom Inventory,and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function.

The findings showed that problems of executive functions and anxietyand depression symptoms predicted weak response to treatment (P<0.0001).The results of moderating regression analysis showed that problems of executivefunctions significantly moderate the relationship of anxiety symptoms andresponse to treatment (P<0.0001), while they do not significantly moderate therelationship between depression symptoms and response to treatment (P>0.05).The results further showed that a longer course of disease and the comorbidity ofdepression and anxiety reduce the response to treatment (P<0.05).

Poor performance in executive functions, a longer course ofdisease, and the comorbidity of anxiety and depression disorders can reduce theresponse to treatment in patients.