Impaired and enhanced attentional function in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Autor: | J. Koschack, G. Derichs, H. J. Kunert, Eva Irle, Godehard Weniger |
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Rok vydání: | 2003 |
Předmět: |
Male
Attentional shift medicine.medical_specialty Neuropsychological Tests Audiology behavioral disciplines and activities Developmental psychology 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Surveys and Questionnaires mental disorders Reaction Time medicine Humans Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Child Applied Psychology Visual search medicine.diagnostic_test 05 social sciences Neuropsychology Discriminant Analysis Cognition Neuropsychological test medicine.disease Test (assessment) Psychiatry and Mental health Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity Case-Control Studies Go/no go Female Psychology 030217 neurology & neurosurgery 050104 developmental & child psychology |
Zdroj: | Psychological Medicine. 33:481-489 |
ISSN: | 1469-8978 0033-2917 |
Popis: | Background. The symptom domain of inattention in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggests that there are neuropsychological fields of attention in which subjects with ADHD express deficits. However, studies using differentiated neuropsychological attentional tests in ADHD are lacking.Method. A consecutive series of 35 subjects with ADHD aged 9–12 years were assessed on a computer-driven neuropsychological test battery for attentional functions. Their performance was classified according to the data of a normative sample of 187 healthy subjects aged 9–12 years, and compared with the performance of 35 matched healthy control subjects.Results. According to normative data, most ADHD subjects performed on all attentional measures within the normal range. Comparisons with the control group revealed that ADHD subjects reacted faster on all attentional tests, yielding statistical significance for the Go/No go test and the Divided Attention test. They also performed with significantly fewer errors on the Divided Attention test. On the Go/No go test, Visual Scanning test and Attentional Shift test ADHD subjects committed significantly more errors than control subjects.Conclusions. Our results suggest a differential pattern rather than a deficit pattern of attentional functions in ADHD. It is suggested that the more rapid response style of ADHD subjects leads to a more erroneous performance in self-paced attentional tasks and to a better performance in externally paced attentional tasks. However, neuropsychological tests of attention do not contribute to the clinical diagnosis of ADHD. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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