The Diagnostic Utility of Executive Function Assessments in the Identification of ADHD in Children

Joni Holmes; Susan E Gathercole; Maurice Place; Tracy P Alloway; Julian G Elliott; Kerry A Hilton

doi:10.1111/j.1475-3588.2009.00536.x

The Diagnostic Utility of Executive Function Assessments in the Identification of ADHD in Children

Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2010 Feb;15(1):37-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2009.00536.x. Epub 2009 Aug 20.

Authors

Joni Holmes¹, Susan E Gathercole², Maurice Place³, Tracy P Alloway⁴, Julian G Elliott⁴, Kerry A Hilton⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Northumbria, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1, 8ST, UK. E-mail: joni.holmes@northumbria.ac.uk.
² Department of Psychology, University of York, UK.
³ Hartlepool Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, UK.
⁴ School of Education, Durham University, UK.

PMID: 32847205
DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2009.00536.x

Abstract

Background: Deficits in executive functions have been widely reported to characterise individuals with ADHD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of a range of executive function measures for identifying children with ADHD.

Method: Eighty-three children with ADHD and 50 normally-developing children without ADHD were assessed on measures of inhibition, set-shifting, planning, problem-solving, response inhibition, sustained attention and working memory. Measures of sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and diagnostic odds ratios were calculated.

Results: Executive function tasks effectively discriminated between children with and without ADHD. Measures of response inhibition and working memory contributed the most to the discriminant function.

Conclusions: Cognitive measures of executive function can be used to help identify children with ADHD and could be useful as additional diagnostic tools for clinical practitioners.

Keywords: ADHD; diagnosis; executive function; working memory.