Date of Award

2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This study evaluated cognitive, academic, and behavioral differences among clinic-referred children diagnosed with different subtypes of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children diagnosed with ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type (ADHD-I), children diagnosed with ADHD Combined Type (ADHD-C), children in a clinical control group, and children in a nonreferred control group were compared on measures of cognitive ability, academic achievement, and behavior. It was hypothesized that the nonreferred control group would outperform the other groups on some of these measures. It was also hypothesized that few of these measures would distinguish among the ADHD groups. The results showed that there were no significant differences between the two ADHD groups on any of the cognitive or academic measures used in the study. However, individuals within the ADHD-I group were found to perform significantly better on the measure of math achievement than they did on the measure of spelling achievement. An examination of the comorbidity of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and learning disability (LD) did not uncover any statistically significant differences between the two ADHD groups; however, a larger percentage of individuals in the ADHD-C group had codiagnoses of ODD, while the ADHD-I group had a higher percentage of individuals with LD. Analysis of parent-completed rating scales revealed that the ADHD-C group exhibited more aggressive behavior than the ADHD-I group.

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