Utility of the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test—Second Edition in the Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder'

Abstract

This study examined the use of the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test-Second Edition (BGT-II) with children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Previous research has examined the relationship of ADHD and visual-motor functioning based on overall developmental scores or specific emotional indicators. Although several studies have examined the relationship of the previous edition of the BGT-II and ADHD symptoms, psychometric issues associated with the original edition limit the validity of the results. The current study examined the utility of the BGT-II in the assessment of behaviors associated with ADHD. A group of 62 subjects diagnosed with ADHD (M=11 yr., 5 mo.; 45 male, 17 female) was compared to a control group of 62 subjects randomly selected from the BGT-II standardization data (M=11 yr., 6 mo; 33 male, 29 female). Several hypotheses were made regarding how areas of deficit, e.g., self-regulation, planning, working memory, and motor control, were expected to manifest in BGT-II performance. With IQ controlled, subjects with ADHD performed more poorly on the BGT-II than subjects with no known disorders; however, the effect size was small (eta(p)=.07). Emotional indicators intended to assess symptoms of ADHD did not demonstrate diagnostic utility.