Cluttering and Working Memory in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.

Area of Science:

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder.
• Cluttering and working memory impairments are recognized challenges in ADHD populations.
• Understanding these deficits across ADHD subtypes is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cluttering and working memory in children and adolescents with ADHD subtypes.
• To compare these cognitive and speech-language functions with typically developing (TD) individuals.
• To identify specific differences in working memory and cluttering characteristics among ADHD subtypes.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 200 participants with ADHD and 49 TD participants.
• Utilized the Working Memory Scale and the Predictive Cluttering Inventory-revised (PCI-TR).
• Employed Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests for statistical analysis with P < .05 significance level.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in Working Memory, Visual Memory, and Verbal Memory scores were found between TD, ADHD-Inattentive, and ADHD-Combined groups (P < .001).
• Significant variations in PCI-TR scores (motor speech, language planning, attention, motor planning, total) were observed across the three groups (P < .001).
• All assessed variables showed statistically significant differences between the study groups.

Conclusions:

• Cluttering is a notable characteristic in both ADHD Inattentive and ADHD-Combined subtypes.
• Children diagnosed with ADHD exhibit significant working memory deficits.
• Enhanced speech and language assessments are recommended for comprehensive ADHD evaluations.