Abstract
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has a high comorbidity with specific learning disorders (SLD). Children with ADHD and children with SLD show specific cognitive deficits. This study aims to examine similarities and differences between cognitive profiles of children with ADHD + SLD, children with SLD only, and a control group to find out whether specific or shared deficits can be identified for the groups. We compared the WISC-V profiles of 62 children with ADHD and SLD (19 girls, M-age = 10.44; SD = 2.44), 35 children with SLD (13 girls, M-age = 10.21; SD = 2.11) and 62 control children without ADHD or SLD (19 girls, M-age = 10.42; SD = 2.39). The ADHD + SLD group performed worse than the control group in the WISC-V indices WMI, PSI, FSIQ, AWMI, CPI and worse than the SLD group in these indices and the VCI, NVI and GAI. Therefore, compared to children with SLD, children with ADHD + SLD did not show specific impairments in any particular cognitive domain but rather non-specific impairment in almost all indices. Hence, the WISC-V is suited to depict the cognitive strength and weaknesses of an individual child as a basis for targeted intervention.
Highlights
With a prevalence of about 5%, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in childhood [1,2]
The present study aims to examine similarities and differences between cognitive profiles of children with ADHD + specific learning disorders (SLD), children with SLD, and a control group of healthy children to find out whether specific and/or shared deficits can be identified for the groups
In all other primary and ancillary indices, the ADHD + SLD group performed worse than the control group (CONTROL) group and/or the SLD group
Summary
With a prevalence of about 5%, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in childhood [1,2]. The number of children with specific learning disorders (SLD; difficulties in learning to read, write or calculate) varies in a similar high range (2–8%, [3,4,5]). The comorbidity between the two disorders is substantial. 20–70% of children with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD suffer from SLD [6,7,8,9]. About 20–28% of children with SLD show clinical levels of ADHD symptoms [10,11]. The substantial overlap between the two disorders calls into question whether both share similar cognitive deficits or whether the cognitive deficits are specific to the disorders
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
