title: Behavioral and Emotional Problems Associated With Convergence Insufficiency in Children: An Open Trial.
abstract: This study investigated behavioral and emotional characteristics of children with convergence insufficiency (CI), before and after treatment with office-based vergence accommodative therapy (OBVAT).
  
  
  
  Parents of 44 children ages 9 to 17 years with symptomatic CI completed the Conners 3 ADHD Index and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) before and after OBVAT. Pre-treatment scores were compared with normative data and post-treatment scores were compared with baseline using the Wilcoxon sign rank test.
  
  
  
  Following OBVAT, CI children showed a significant mean improvement (p < .0001, effect size of 0.58) on the Conners 3 ADHD Index with the largest changes occurring in the 23 children who scored the highest at baseline. On the CBCL, anxious/depressed, somatic, and internalizing problems improved significantly (p < .001, effect sizes of -0.36, -1.15, and -0.67, respectively).
  
  
  
  In an open trial, attention and internalizing problems improved significantly following treatment for CI.
authors.affiliation: Marshall B. Ketchum University, Fullerton, CA, USA eborsting@ketchum.edu.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borsting
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: G Lynn
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: L Eugene
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Salus University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Mitchell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheiman
authors.affiliation: Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Marjean
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulp
authors.affiliation: Marshall B. Ketchum University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cotter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015835:Ocular Motility Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D009819:Office Visits; D009988:Orthoptics / Q000379:methods*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: ADHD; convergence insufficiency; sustained attention; symptomatology; vergence