Diagnostic Associations of Processing Speed in a Transdiagnostic, Pediatric Sample

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Child Psychology
• Developmental Disorders

Background:

• Prior research often examined processing speed (PS) deficits in relation to specific diagnoses separately.
• Investigating PS associations with multiple diagnoses simultaneously offers a more comprehensive understanding of cognitive-behavioral links.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationships between processing speed (PS) and five common childhood diagnoses: anxiety, autism, ADHD, depressive, and specific learning disorders.
• To explore these associations in a large, transdiagnostic, community-based sample.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 843 children (ages 8-16) from the Healthy Brain Network (HBN) Biobank.
• Employed Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to create a composite measure of processing speed (PC1) from four tasks.
• Assessed reliability using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs).

Main Results:

• Found significant relationships between processing speed and reading/math disabilities, and ADHD-inattentive (ADHD-I) and combined (ADHD-C) presentations.
• Reliability of the composite PS measure (PC1) was moderate between WISC-V tasks but modest with the NIH Toolbox.
• No significant relationship was found between PS and Autism Spectrum Disorder after accounting for inattention.

Conclusions:

• Processing speed demonstrates more specific associations with ADHD and learning disorders than previously suggested by isolated diagnostic studies.
• Findings highlight the complex interplay between processing speed and heterogeneous childhood conditions.
• Implications for clinical assessment and intervention strategies for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.