Alerting, orienting, and executive attention in children with ADHD.

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated the alerting, orienting, and executive attention abilities of children with ADHD and their typically developing (TD) peers using a modified version of the adult attention network test (ANT-I).

METHOD

A total of 25 children with ADHD, Combined Type (ADHD-C, mean age = 9.20 years), 20 children with ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type (ADHD-I, mean age = 9.58 years), and 45 TD children (mean age = 9.41 years) matched on age and intelligence to the ADHD group completed the ANT-I.

RESULTS

As hypothesized, children with ADHD (n = 45) displayed significantly weaker alerting and executive attention than TD children (n = 45) but did not differ from TD children in orienting ability. Children with ADHD-C (n = 25) did not differ from children with ADHD-I (n = 20) on any of the three networks.

CONCLUSIONS

Results supported the growing body of evidence that has found alerting and executive attention deficits in children with ADHD.