Related Experiment Videos
Testing assumptions for endophenotype studies in ADHD: reliability and validity of tasks in a general population
Jonna Kuntsi1, Penny Andreou, Jonathan Ma
1MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. j.kuntsi@iop.kcl.ac.uk
BMC Psychiatry
|November 3, 2005
Summary
Cognitive tasks show reliable performance measures for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research. Teacher-rated ADHD symptoms correlate with performance, especially under slow conditions, supporting their use in genetic studies.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
- Psychology
Background:
- Advances in genetic and cognitive studies offer new avenues for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research.
- Cognitive endophenotype research focuses on reliable, measurable individual differences associated with ADHD.
- Quantitative trait loci approaches hypothesize multiple genes contribute to a continuous ADHD symptom dimension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the test-retest reliability of key cognitive tasks for ADHD research.
- To investigate the association between ADHD symptom scores and performance on these cognitive tasks in a general population sample.
Main Methods:
- Forty-nine children participated in the study.
- Cognitive assessments included a go/no-go task and a reaction time task ('fast task') with event rate and incentive manipulations.
- Children were assessed twice, with a two-week interval for test-retest reliability.
Main Results:
- Most task variables exhibited moderate-to-good test-retest reliability.
- Teacher-rated ADHD symptoms correlated with task performance (.4-.6), particularly high reaction time variability in slow conditions.
- Associations were weaker or absent with faster event rates or incentives.
- Parent ratings of ADHD symptoms did not show a clear pattern of association.
Conclusions:
- The go/no-go and fast tasks are suitable for genetic studies requiring reliable individual difference measures.
- Teacher-rated ADHD symptom associations align with activation and arousal regulation models concerning event rate and incentives.
- Further research is needed to understand the lack of clear findings with parent ratings.