Comparison of Cognitive and Behavioral Profiles of Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Dyslexia

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Developmental Dyslexia are disorders usually diagnosed in childhood and adolescence and affect different cognitive functions, however, with differences in central deficits. There is a consensus that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder manifest alterations in attention and executive functioning. Meanwhile, a growing number of researchers that investigated and described attentional and other executive function alterations in affected Dyslexia individuals. Therefore, our study aimed to compare the cognitive and behavioral profiles of 21 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (n=7), Dyslexia (n=6), and a control group (n=8), ages 6 to 14 years old, evaluated from January 2022 to July 2023. We excluded children with other neurodevelopmental disorders or neurologic diseases. The results showed that in tasks of working memory and cognitive flexibility, the group with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder presented higher averages than the children with Dyslexia. Furthermore, participants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder committed more mistakes in attentional tests, mainly in alternating attention, than the Dyslexia group (z = -8.548; p=0.029). Furthermore, participants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder had higher means for externalizing problems (Average: 62.43; Standard Deviation: 8.36) when compared to the group with Dyslexia (Average: 57.50; Standard Deviation: 5.09), as well as dyslexics had higher means for behavior problems internalizing (Average: 66.00; Standard Deviation: 11.63) than the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder group (Average: 58.00; Standard Deviation: 8.16). The results found in this study showed that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder had higher averages than the group with Dyslexia in attention and executive functions and indicated the presence of a heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile among the participants, however, the clinical groups showed significant impairments in attention, executive functions and behavior, which can have an impact on the functionality and quality of life of these children.