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Background: Executive function, particularly behavioral inhibition has been implicated as a core

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Background: Our objective was to investigate time perception in Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with and without comorbid reading difficulties (RD) in child and adolescent participants. Method: In study 1, 50 children with ADHD (31 ADHD, 19 ADHD+RD) and age‐matched healthy controls (n = 50) completed three psychophysical tasks: duration discrimination (target duration of 400 ms versus a foil duration), frequency discrimination (a control condition to evaluate general perceptual ability), and a duration estimation task using the method of reproduction for intervals of 400 ms, 2000 ms, and 6000 ms. Study 2 used the same tasks with an adolescent sample (35 ADHD, 24 ADHD+RD, 39 controls). Results: In both studies, children and adolescents with ADHD and ADHD+RD displayed some impairments in duration discrimination and the precision with which they reproduced the intervals on the estimation task, particularly the shorter 400 ms interval. The most severe impairments tended to occur in the comorbid ADHD+RD group. No impairments were found on the frequency discrimination task. ADHD participants also displayed significant intra‐individual variability in their performance on the estimation task. Finally, short‐term and working memory, estimated full‐scale IQ, and teacher report of hyperactivity/impulsivity were found to differentially predict performance on the time perception measures in the adolescent clinical sample. Conclusions: Deficits in duration discrimination, duration estimation, and intra‐individual performance variability may have cascaded effects on the temporal organisation of behaviour in children and adolescents with ADHD and ADHD+RD.

Objective: Although studies have documented higher prevalence of abuse in children with ADHD, no studies have investigated childhood reports of abuse in individuals identified with ADHD in adulthood. Method: Forty ADHD women, 17 ADHD males, 17 female controls, and 40 male controls complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and other measures of psychosocial functioning. Results: Emotional abuse and neglect are more common among men and women with ADHD as compared to controls. Sexual abuse and physical neglect are more commonly reported by females with ADHD. Although childhood abuse is significantly correlated with depression and anxiety in adulthood, having ADHD is a better predictor of poorer psychosocial functioning in adulthood. Conclusion: Clinicians are alerted that patients with ADHD symptoms have a high probability of childhood abuse.