The Task Matters: A Scoping Review on Reading Comprehension Abilities in ADHD

Area of Science:

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is frequently associated with challenges in academic skills.
• Reading comprehension difficulties are often reported in individuals diagnosed with ADHD, but findings are inconsistent.
• Existing literature lacks a clear consensus on the precise relationship between ADHD and reading comprehension abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of current research on the relationship between ADHD diagnosis and reading comprehension.
• To synthesize existing evidence and identify patterns in the literature regarding ADHD and reading comprehension deficits.
• To address the inconsistency in findings across studies examining ADHD and reading comprehension.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was employed to identify relevant studies.
• Inclusion criteria were applied to select pertinent articles for the review.
• Thirty-four studies met the criteria and were included in this scoping review.

Main Results:

• The collective evidence indicates that reading comprehension is generally impaired in individuals with ADHD.
• A significant deficit was observed in tasks requiring retelling or identifying central ideas in stories.
• Participants with ADHD consistently underperformed compared to typically developing controls on these specific tasks.
• However, some studies noted improved reading comprehension performance in ADHD when task demands were reduced.

Conclusions:

• Reading comprehension performance in individuals with ADHD is influenced by the specific measurement methods used.
• The findings underscore the variability in ADHD's impact on reading comprehension based on task demands.
• Further research is needed to elucidate the reasons behind discrepant findings across studies and refine assessment approaches.