scholarly journals Measures of executive functions predicting Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder core symptoms

Author(s):  
Tshikani T. Boshomane ◽  
Basil J. Pillay ◽  
Anneke Meyer

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood disorder, and in many children, ADHD is thought to be aggravated by a deficit in executive functions (EFs). This study tried to establish whether commonly used neuropsychological tests of EF also predicted the core symptoms of ADHD, namely hyperactivity/impulsiveness (H/I) and inattention, as well as total ADHD symptomatology, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). The participants were children from the Limpopo province, South Africa, aged from 6 to 15 years (M = 11.7 years; SD = 1.7). One hundred and fifty-six children (51.3% girls) were assessed by neuropsychological tests of EFs: the Tower of London (ToL), Digits Forward and Digits Backward, Trails-A and Trails-B and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Forward stepwise regression analysis was employed to predict H/I and inattention, as well as total ADHD symptomatology, based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. All the tests, except Trails-A, were found to predict ADHD symptomatology. The WCST (total errors) was the best predictor of all the ADHD symptoms and also for H/I and inattention separately, followed by Trails-B and Digits Backwards, which were found to predict more symptoms of inattention than H/I. Perseverative errors on the WCST predicted more H/I symptomatology, whilst non-perseverating errors were more associated with inattention. The ToL and Digits Forward predicted fewer ADHD symptoms. The ToL seemed more sensitive to inattention, whilst Digits Forward showed a stronger association with H/I. The WCST, Digits Backwards and Trails-B may be used to measure EF to support the diagnosis of ADHD in a clinical setting and to indicate cognitive impairment.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 765
Author(s):  
Łukasz Konowałek ◽  
Tomasz Wolańczyk

Despite a multitude of research on executive functions and attachment in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a synthetic approach to the matter seems to have been lacking. In this review, we attempt to check the available data against two hypotheses: (1) executive functions and attachment influence ADHD symptoms independently; (2) executive functions and attachment interact to produce ADHD symptoms. We found no evidence falsifying the former hypothesis and some evidence to refute the latter. Limitations of current study approaches and suggestions for further research are discussed. Specifically, we propose an attachment representation, rather than attachment style, approach to measuring the mediation thereof between executive dysfunctions and ADHD.


2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1057-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Haberstick ◽  
D. Timberlake ◽  
C. J. Hopfer ◽  
J. M. Lessem ◽  
M. A. Ehringer ◽  
...  

BackgroundA variety of methodologies and techniques converge on the notion that adults and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have similar deficits, but there is limited knowledge about whether adult retrospective reports reflect similar genetic and environmental influences implicated in childhood ADHD.MethodDSM-IV ADHD symptoms were collected retrospectively from 3896 young adults participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Responses from this genetically informative sample of same- and opposite-sex twins and siblings were used to determine the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences. Possible gender differences in these effects were also examined. The degree of familial specificity of the genetic and environmental influences on the Inattentive and Hyperactive-Impulsive symptom dimensions was also determined.ResultsAdditive genetic effects contributed moderately to DSM-IV Inattentive, Hyperactive-Impulsive and Combined ADHD subtypes (heritability estimates of 0.30–0.38). Individual-specific influences accounted for the remaining proportion of the variance. Both genetic and individual-specific environmental effects contributed to the covariation of Inattentive and Hyperactive-Impulsive symptomologies.ConclusionsResults from our genetic analyses agree with previous findings based on self-assessment of current and retrospectively reported ADHD symptoms in adolescents and adults. Large individual-specific environmental influences as identified here suggest that current questionnaires used for retrospective diagnoses may not provide the most accurate reconstruction of the etiological influences on childhood ADHD in general population samples.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S396-S397
Author(s):  
B. Tuzun Mutluer ◽  
T.G. Yener Orum ◽  
S. Sertcelik

ObjectiveIn this study, it was aimed to determine the internet use properties of Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) patients who were followed-up at Haydarpasa Numune Research and Training Hospital, Psychiatry Department; ADHD Outpatient Clinic.MethodThirty participants who were diagnosed with adult ADHD aged between 18–31 years rated their ADHD symptoms in childhood retrospectively, using Wender Utah Rating Scale. Patients rated current adult ADHD symptoms with the Adult ADHD DSM-IV-Based Diagnostic Screening and Rating Scale (DSRS) and severity of symptoms measured by Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS). Internet addiction (IA) was assessed with Young's Internet Addiction Scale (IAS). It was determined that, none of 30 Adult ADHD patients have been diagnosed with IA.29 of patient have moderate internet use although 1 of patients have risky internet use. The results revealed that total ASRS score (P = 0.020), total Adult ADHD DSM-IV-Based DSRS score (P = 0.036) and the Attention Deficit related properties subscale total score (P = 0.042) were significantly correlated with the IAS total score. Subscale of the self-report scales including; failing to finish schoolworks, chores, or duties at workplace, difficulty of following through on instructions (P = 0.017), restiveness; impaired inhibitory performance (P = 0.017), feeling not confident (P = 0.017), difficulty of managing time (P = 0.047), failing to give close attention to details or making careless mistakes (P = 0.037) are closely relevant to IAS total score.ResultIn conclusion, clinical features, which are characteristic of Adult ADHD could have same shared etiology with IA. Furthermore, ADHD patients are more likely to have an IA diagnosis. However, it was thought that this result had to be supported with studies including larger samples.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Shur-Fen Gau ◽  
Yu-Ju Lin ◽  
Andrew Tai-Ann Cheng ◽  
Yen-Nan Chiu ◽  
Wen-Che Tsai ◽  
...  

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine changes of attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities at adolescence, and mother-child agreement on reports of ADHD symptoms among children with ADHD as compared to unaffected controls. Methods: The participants included 93 patients (male, 82.8%) aged 11–16, who were clinically diagnosed with ADHD at the mean age of 7.3 ± 2.8 years, and 93 age-, sex-, and parental education-matched school controls. The participants and their mothers were frist interviewed separately for baseline psychopathology at childhood, followed by current psychopathology using the Chinese Kiddie Epidemiologic version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Results: At adolescence, 46 patients (49.5%) met full DSM-IV ADHD criteria, 31 (33.3%) had subthreshold ADHD, and 16 (17.2%) had recovered from ADHD. We found a significant progressive decline in the three ADHD core symptoms for the ADHD group: hyperactivity had the greatest effect size, followed by inattention, and then impulsivity. Children with ADHD tended to report less severe ADHD symptoms at childhood and adolescence than their mothers. They were more likely than the controls to have oppositional defiant disorder (odds ratio (OR)=18.0; 95% confidence interval (CI)=8.3–38.9), conduct disorder (OR=23.1, 95%CI =5.3–100.2), mood disorders (OR=3.8, 95%CI = 1.5–9.4), bipolar disorders (Fisher's exact p < 0.001), and sleep disorders (OR=3.1, 95%CI = 1.6–6.0) at adolescence. Conclusions: The present findings are similar to those of Western studies, regarding the patterns of comorbidity, stability of core symptoms, and mother–child differences on symptom reports.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Beikmohamadi ◽  
Matt Ethan Meier

Van den Driessche et al. (2017) found that children and young adults with more Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms report more mind blanking than those with fewer ADHD symptoms and that non-medicated children with ADHD reported less mind wandering and more mind blanking than medicated children with ADHD. Van den Driessche et al. speculated that medication facilitated executive control and that executive resources support mind wandering (and on-task thought). Besides describing the conscious experience of those with ADHD symptomology, these findings bear on the theoretical debate of executive functions’ role in conscious experience. Some argue that executive functions support mind wandering (Levinson, Smallwood, &amp; Davidson, 2012; Smallwood, 2010, 2013), while others argue that mind wandering situationally results from a lack (or failure) of executive control (McVay &amp; Kane, 2010; Meier, 2019). Here, we conducted a study like Van den Driessche et al.’s study with young adults (Experiment 2, 2017) and tested the associations between ADHD symptomology and conscious experience. Rather than speculating about the effects of medication, we directly measured executive functioning (via complex span tasks). Like Van den Driessche et al., we observed a positive association between mind blanking and ADHD, but we detected no evidence supporting the claim that executive functions support mind wandering. We also assessed the relative associations between task performance metrics and reports of mind blanking and mind wandering. We did not detect differential performance associations between those thought reports. [Preregistration, data, analysis scripts, and output are available via the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/z3awm/].


1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. B. Lahey ◽  
B. Applegate ◽  
K. McBurnett ◽  
J. Biederman ◽  
L. Greenhill ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Riki Sukiandra

Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with childhood epilepsy. Epilepsy are themost common neurologic disturbance in child age. Children with epilepsy tend to get one or more ADHD symptoms,its related to lack of norepinephrine neurotransmitter in brain, that cause attenuate the effect of GABA and disruptionto fronto-striatal brain networks, these same brain networks are disrupted by seizures or the structural brainabnormalities that can cause seizures. Children with epilepsy especially absance, tend to get inattentive type ofADHD more than other types. Abnormalities of electro-encephalography found in inattentive type of ADHD withhigh focus activities in all lobe area. No data published that methylphenidate can lower seizure threshold or act asproconvulsant. Children with epilepsy tend to get one or more symptoms of ADHD in the following days.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Samuel ◽  
John D. Ranseen

Previous studies have indicated a consistent profile of basic personality traits correlated with adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (e.g., Ranseen, Campbell, &amp; Baer, 1998; Nigg et al., 2002). In particular, research has found that low scores of the Conscientiousness trait and high scores on Neuroticism have been correlated with ADHD symptomatology. However, to date there is limited information concerning the range of effect resulting from medication treatment for adult ADHD. During an 18 month period, 60 adults were diagnosed with ADHD based on strict, DSM-IV criteria at an outpatient clinic. This evaluation included a battery of neuropsychological tests and a measure of general personality (i.e., the NEO PI-R). Eleven of these participants returned to complete the battery a second time. The pre-post comparisons revealed significant changes following sustained stimulant treatment on both the neuropsychological and self-report measures. These individuals also displayed significant changes on two domains of the NEO PI-R. They showed a significant decrease on the domain of Neuroticism, indicating that now see themselves as less prone to experience negative emotional states such as anxiety and depression. Additionally, they also reported a significant increase on their scores on the domain of conscientiousness. This increase suggests that they see themselves as more organized and dependable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-283
Author(s):  
Mihail Silviu Tudosie ◽  
Elena Truta ◽  
Ana Maria Davitoiu ◽  
Luminita Stanciulescu ◽  
George Jinescu ◽  
...  

During one year (september 2013 � september 2014), 50 children from the residential institution for children SOS Satele Copiilor Bucharest, where included in our research. The children were distributed in two groups: Group A which consisted of 25 children (12 girls, 13 boys) who were not diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Group B which consisted of 25 children (14 boys, 11 girls) who were diagnosed with ADHD. Initially, the two groups were subjected at a psycho-diagnostic battery of tests, one of them being the Evaluating the Health State of children with ADHD questionnaire elaborated by us, particularly for this research, with the purpose of highlighting the direct link between the children health state and their ADHD symptoms. This study sought to determine the concentration of copper in urine samples from a group of children with ADHD and a group of normal children, to highlight the role of copper in the development of ADHD symptoms. Levels of copper concentration in urine samples from the two groups were processed by Student�s t-Test. Statistical analysis showed that the arithmetic averages of copper concentration in urine samples, of the two groups do not differ significantly, so copper may be causing ADHD symptoms occur. The copper content in urine samples has been determined using atomic absorption spectrometry with graphite furnace.


Author(s):  
Karen Bearss ◽  
Aaron J. Kaat

This chapter will review the available evidence on individuals with co-occurring diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This chapter contends that children diagnosed with both disorders (ASD+ADHD) are a subset of the ASD population that is at risk for delayed recognition of their ASD diagnosis, poor treatment response, and poorer functional outcomes compared to those with ASD without ADHD. Specifically, the chapter highlights the best estimates of the prevalence of the comorbidity, the developmental trajectory of people with co-occurring ASD and ADHD, how ADHD symptoms change across development, overlapping genetic and neurobiological risk factors, psychometrics of ADHD diagnostic instruments in an ASD population, neuropsychological and functional impairments associated with co-occurring ASD and ADHD, and the current state of evidence-based treatment for both ASD and ADHD symptoms. Finally, the chapter discusses fruitful avenues of research for improving understanding of this high-risk comorbidity so that mechanism-to-treatment pathways for ADHD in children with ASD can be better developed.


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