Contributions of Working Memory, Inhibition, and Processing Speed to Writing Composition in...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often exhibit challenges in written expression.
• Deficits in executive functions and processing speed are hypothesized contributors to these writing difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mediating roles of executive functions and processing speed in the relationship between inattention and writing composition in children.
• To quantify the variance in writing composition explained by these cognitive factors in ADHD.

Main Methods:

• A multiple mediation analysis was employed.
• The study included 518 children diagnosed with ADHD and 851 typically developing controls.
• Executive functions (working memory, inhibition) and processing speed were assessed as potential mediators, controlling for transcription skills.

Main Results:

• Inattention was found to negatively predict writing composition performance.
• Executive functions accounted for approximately 10% of the variance in the association between inattention and writing.
• Processing speed accounted for nearly 17% of the variance in this association.

Conclusions:

• Executive functions and processing speed significantly contribute to the writing composition difficulties observed in children with ADHD.
• These findings underscore the importance of targeting executive functions and processing speed in interventions for improving writing skills in pediatric ADHD.