Interference Control in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The view that Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with a diminished ability to control interfference is controversial and based exclusively on results of (verbal)-visual interference tasks, primarily the Stroop Color Word task. The present study compares medication-naïve children with ADHD (n?=?35 and n?=?51 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) with normal controls (n?=?26 and n?=?32, respectively) on two interference tasks to assess interference control in both the auditory and the visual modality: an Auditory Stroop task and a Simon task. Both groups showed reliable but equal degrees of interference on both tasks, suggesting that children with ADHD do not differ from normal controls in their ability to control interference in either modality.     

Methylphenidate Does Not Modify the Impact of Response Frequency or Stimulus Sequence on Performance and Event-Related Potentials of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Twenty-six children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) participated in a double-blind trial consisting of 2 consecutive weeks each of placebo and methylphenidate (M = 26.92 mg/day = 0.78 mg/kg/day). As expected, stimulant therapy resulted in moderate weight loss, increased somatic complaints, and teacher and parent reports of reduced inattentiveness, aggression, and oppositionality. In both phases of the trial, patients were tested in a choice reaction time task assessing two aspects of the task that presumably affect response selection: response frequency (ratio of targets/nontargets = 25/75 vs. 50/50) and stimulus sequence (alternations vs. repetitions). Both manipulations yielded expected results on performance and event-related potentials (ERPs). Stimulant treatment increased accuracy and speed among younger children and curtailed variability of reaction time for the sample as a whole. However, methylphenidate did not affect ERPs. In combination, the results imply that the enhancement of performance by methylphenidate does not involve the demands of response selection examined in this study.     

Assessing Culturally Different Students for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Using Behavior Rating Scales

Behavior rating scales are commonly used in the assessment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there is little information available concerning the extent to which scales are valid with culturally different students. This study explored the use of the ADHD-IV Rating Scale School Version with male Caucasian (CA) and African American (AA) students from ages 5 to 18 years. Teachers rated AA students higher on all symptoms across all age groups. LISREL analysis indicated that scale does not perform identically across groups. This was supported by the results of multidimensional scaling with suggested that there is a different relation between items across groups. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Language Abilities in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Reading Disabilities, and Normal Controls

Research has demonstrated a high prevalence of language impairments (LI) and reading disabilities (RD) in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Since RD is also associated with LI, it is unclear whether the language impairments are specific to ADHD or associated with comorbid RD. The language abilities of ADHD children with and without RD were investigated in a task requiring recall of a lengthy narrative, and in tests assessing knowledge of the semantic aspects of language. The study was conducted with 50 boys—14 ADHD, 14 ADHD + RD, 8 RD, and 14 normal controls, aged 7 to 11. Children with ADHD (ADHD-only, ADHD + RD) exhibited difficulties in organizing and monitoring their story retelling. Children with RD (RD-only, ADHD + RD) demonstrated deficits in receptive and expressive semantic language abilities on the language processing tests. The comorbid group (ADHD + RD) exhibited the deficits of both ADHD and RD children. The deficiencies of ADHD children are consistent with higher-order executive function deficits while the deficits of RD children are consistent with deficits in the basic semantics of language processing.     

Occupational Identity,Competence, and Environments Among Adults With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Exploring occupational adaptation among adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is essential due to associated occupational difficulties. Occupational Performance History Interview scales—identity, competence, and environments—were compared between 51 adults with and 50 without ADHD who participated in occupations. Internal and external resources supporting occupational participations were represented by the competence and environment scales, respectively. The group with ADHD reported fewer internal and external occupational resources compared to the group without ADHD, despite occupational identity similarities. Study findings suggest that occupational interventions aimed at increasing internal and external occupational resources may support occupational adaptation among adults with ADHD.     

ADHD儿童与正常儿童在视觉—动作方面的比较研究

10岁到13岁男性ADHD儿童在镶嵌图形、眼手协调、视力追踪和数字划销等视觉—动作实验上的分数显著低于同一年龄段的男性正常儿童,显示ADHD儿童的视觉—动作能力比正常儿童差.ADHD儿童与正常儿童相比,知觉方式的场独立性较弱,心理机能分化程度较低.ADHD儿童在长度估计实验上没有发现异常.     

Confirmation of an Inhibitory Control Deficit in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The objective of this study was to determine whether deficient inhibitory control distinguishes children with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder, conduct disorder (CD), and comorbid ADHD + CD from normally developing children. Participants were rigorously diagnosed children (age 7 to 12 years) with ADHD (N = 72), CD (N = 13) or ADHD + CD (N = 47) and 33 control children (NC). We studied inhibitory control using the stop-signal paradigm, a laboratory task that assessed the ability to inhibit an ongoing action. The ADHD group had significantly impaired inhibitory control compared to NC, CD, and ADHD + CD children. These results indicate that children with ADHD have deficient inhibition as measured in the stop-signal paradigm and that ADHD occurring in the presence of ADHD + CD may represent a phenocopy of CD rather than a variant of ADHD.     

Restraint and Cancellation: Multiple Inhibition Deficits in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

We used variations of the stop signal task to study two components of motor response inhibition—the ability to withhold a strong response tendency (restraint) and the ability to cancel an ongoing action (cancellation)—in children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in non-ADHD controls of similar age (ages 7–14 years). The goal was to determine if restraint and cancellation were related and if both were deficient in ADHD. The stop signal task involved a choice reaction time task (go task) which required a rapid response. The demand for inhibitory control was invoked through the presentation of a stop signal on a subset of go trials which required that the ongoing response be suspended. The stop signal was presented either concurrently with the go signal (restraint version) or after a variable delay (cancellation version). In Study 1, we compared ADHD and control children on the cancellation version of the stop task; in Study 2, we compared ADHD and controls on the restraint version. In Study 3, a subset of ADHD and control participants completed both tasks so that we could examine convergence of these dimensions of inhibition. Compared to control participants, ADHD participants showed a deficit both in the ability to cancel and to restrain a speeded motor response. Performance on the restraint version was significantly correlated with performance on the cancellation version in controls, but not in ADHD participants. We conclude that ADHD is associated with deficits in both restraint and cancellation subcomponents of inhibition.     

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Behavioral Inhibition: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Stop-signal Paradigm

Deficient behavioral inhibition (BI) processes are considered a core feature of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This meta-analytic review is the first to examine the potential influence of a wide range of subject and task variable moderator effects on BI processes--assessed by the stop-signal paradigm--in children with ADHD relative to typically developing children. Results revealed significantly slower mean reaction time (MRT), greater reaction time variability (SDRT), and slower stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) in children with ADHD relative to controls. The non-significant between-group stop-signal delay (SSD) metric, however, suggests that stop-signal reaction time differences reflect a more generalized deficit in attention/cognitive processing rather than behavioral inhibition. Several subject and task variables served as significant moderators for children's mean reaction time.     

Educators' Perceptions of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Exploratory Study

The study investigated the perceptions of educators about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, specifically their views on its incidence, causes and appropriate interventions in school settings. Five purposively selected educators from a private school participated in the study. Ethnographic interview was used to collect and analyze the data. The results revealed that the educators considered ADHD mainly a physiological disorder with primarily genetic and environmental causes. Regardless the educators preferred medication as the intervention method despite being aware of additional intervention methods.     

Predicting the Early Developmental Course of Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were examined to test whether: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms remain stable from 54 months through early elementary school; behavioral inhibition and attention deficits assessed at 54 months predict ADHD symptoms in elementary school, even after controlling for their temporal stability; and early behavioral inhibition and attention deficits moderate the longitudinal stability in ADHD symptoms. Data were examined using continuous and categorical measures of symptoms. Modest stability in ADHD symptoms from 54 months to third grade was found. Measures of inhibition and inattention predicted later teacher ratings uniquely, but no evidence was found for moderation. Measures of preschool behavioral inhibition also predicted “persistently at risk status” defined by elevated teacher ratings over time. Results are discussed in terms of executive and motivational facets of inhibition that may be related to early signs of ADHD.     

Establishing a Link Between Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Childhood Physical Abuse

Attention deficit disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADD/ADHD) are found in approximately 5% to 10% of school-aged children. This study examined whether childhood physical abuse was associated with ADD/ADHD. Data were derived from a population-based sample of 13,054 adults from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. We used logistical regression analysis in 2 models, both of which had ADD/ADHD as the criterion variable. There were 7 times higher odds of ADD/ADHD among those who reported they had been abused after controlling for several potential mediating factors, including age, race, gender, and 3 other types of adverse childhood experiences (parental divorce, parental addictions, and long-term parental unemployment) in comparison to those who were not abused. The results of this analysis show a strong link between childhood abuse and ADD/ADHD, an association that requires further study.     

Decision Making with Uncertain Reinforcement in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Reward-related processes are impaired in children with ADHD. Whether these deficits can be ascribed to an aversion to delay or to an altered responsiveness to magnitude, frequency, valence, or the probability of rewards still needs to be explored. In the present study, children with ADHD and normal controls aged 7 to 10 years performed a simple probabilistic discounting task. They had to choose between alternatives where the magnitude of rewards was inversely related to the probability of outcomes. As a result, children with ADHD opted more frequently for less likely but larger rewards than normal controls. Shifts of the response category after positive or negative feedback, however, occurred as often in children with ADHD as in control children. In children with ADHD, the frequency of risky choices was correlated with neuropsychological measures of response time variability but unrelated to measures of inhibitory control. It is concluded that the tendency to select less likely but larger rewards possibly represents a separate facet of dysfunctional reward processing, independent of delay aversion or altered responsiveness to feedback.     

注意缺陷多动障碍的研究与治疗

注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的发病群体多为5岁以后的儿童,主要临床表现是多动、冲动,注意力无法集中,对一项任务不能够有规划进行下去,而且脾气暴躁、易怒。近年来,心理学界、神经科学界和教育学界等对ADHD的研究取得了很多进展。本文概括性地介绍了ADHD病症的基本特征,目前对于患者脑机制损害的研究,并从药理学和行为学等方面讨论了ADHD的治疗方法和手段。     

Creative Thinking in Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A widened attentional focus, that is typically associated with ADHD, has been postulated to be accompanied by enhanced creative ability. However, creativity has been only limitedly examined in ADHD. Performance across several creativity measures were investigated in three groups: adolescents with ADHD, those with conduct disorder, and a healthy control sample. The ADHD group exhibited selective cognitive advantages and disadvantages by demonstrating an enhanced ability in overcoming the constraining influence of examples, but a reduced capacity to generate a functional invention during an imagery task. These findings are interpreted with reference to inhibitory control mechanisms and the contextual modulation of creative cognition.     

Confirming the Factor Structure of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Adult, Nonclinical Samples

Three separate models have been proposed to describe the factor structure of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the past 20 years. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III (DSM-III, 1980) proposed 3 separate factors of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The DSM-III-R (1987) proposed a single factor. The DSM-IV (1994) described the disorder as having 2 factors: hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention. The following 2 studies employed confirmatory factor analysis to compare each of these models and 3 alternative models. University students completed questionnaires that assessed each of the 18 symptoms listed in the DSM-IV for ADHD. The 3-factor model fit the data significantly better than each of the other models in both studies. These findings suggest that a 3-factor model of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity describes adult ADHD symptoms better than current alternatives.     

DSM-IV Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms: Agreement Between Informants in Prevalence and Factor Structure at Different Ages

The agreement between teachers’ and parents’ ratings of the prevalence of DSM-IV attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and the concordance of the factor structure of ADHD symptoms was analyzed in a sample of 653 Spanish schoolchildren aged 4 to 12 divided into two age groups. The prevalence of ADHD symptoms ranged between 0.66 and 16.73% and was higher when the rater was the teacher. Agreement between parents and teachers was low. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) shows a slightly better fit for the three-factor model (Inattention, Hyperactivity and Impulsivity) than for the two-factor model (Inattention and Hyperactivity–impulsivity), except for parents’ ratings in the sample of children under six. CFA using a multitrait–multimethod model (CFA-MTMM) shows similar results.     

Quantitative EEG Assessment During Neuropsychological Task Performance in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

This study evaluated the neuropsychological performance of adults with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Computerized Version 3 (WCST), and the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA). Quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) data were also collected during task performance to examine differences in cortical activity between groups and tasks. Results suggest that adults with ADHD demonstrated lower levels of performance on the PASAT and IVA, tasks that involve working memory and processing speed, and sustained attention, respectively. Adults with ADHD also had more upper alpha activity during the IVA. Lastly, for the ADHD group, an increased theta/beta ratio during the IVA was significantly related to poorer attentional performance. The current results support reinforcing specific types of cortical activity though EEG operant conditioning (neurofeedback) as a treatment option in adults with ADHD. This paper is based largely in part on a dissertation by J. Noland White in partial fulfillment of the requirements of his doctoral program at The University of Tennessee. Portions of this study have been presented in summary form at several professional conferences.     

Understanding the Covariation Among Childhood Externalizing Symptoms: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Conduct Disorder,Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms

Conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) are common childhood externalizing disorders that frequently co-occur. However, the causes of their comorbidity are not well understood. To address that question, we analyzed data from > 600 Finnish twin pairs, who completed standardized interviews at age 14. Behavior genetic methods were used to examine how genetic/environmental factors contribute to each disorders symptoms and to their covariation. We found significant genetic effects on each disorder with only modest evidence of shared environmental influences. Our data suggest the comorbidity among CD, ADHD, and ODD is primarily explained by shared genetic influences; however, each disorder was also under unique genetic influence, supporting the distinction of each disorder.