The study results do not support that MPH improves attention-related cognitive functions of boys with ADHD. The potential effect of MPH on verbal abilities deserves further research.
This study investigates cognitive sex differences in child and adolescent intelligence as measured by the WISC-IV (German edition; Petermann & Petermann, 2007 ). It was hypothesized that there would be no differences attributable to sex in Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), but on various composite score levels. Sex effects were expected to be more pronounced during/after puberty than before. Method: The standardization sample of the German WISC-IV (N = 1650) was used to assess and evaluate sex differences in test performance across defined age groups (6–9, 10–12, and 13–16 years). Results: At all ages, there were no gender effects in the Full-Scale IQ, but gender effects favoring boys in the Verbal Comprehension Index (t = 3.94, p < .001, d = .19) and Perceptual Reasoning Index (t = 2.69, p = .007, d = .13). In the Processing Speed Index, girls scored higher than boys (t = 6.75, p < .001, d = .33). No significant sex-by-age interaction effect was found using ANOVA, but various 1-df contrasts showed substantial sex differences at specific ages. Conclusions: Results are discussed in the context of the specific constructs measured by the WISC-IV, taking into account recent findings in neurobiological and developmental psychology.
Es wurden die Leistungen von 85 Jungen mit unbehandeltem ADHS im Alter von 6 bis 13 Jahren in den Indizes Arbeitsgedächtnis und Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit des HAWIK-IV sowie die Leistungen einer Teilstichprobe von 68 Kindern im Alter von 6 bis 10 Jahren in der Testbatterie zur Aufmerksamkeitsprüfung für Kinder (KITAP) erfasst. Zusätzlich zum Vergleich der Ergebnisse dieser Gruppen mit Normwerten wurden die Ergebnisse der Kinder mit kombiniertem und vorwiegend hyperaktiv-impulsivem ADHS-Typ sowie der Kinder mit dem vorwiegend unaufmerksamen ADHS-Typ getrennt analysiert. Es zeigten sich signifikante Defizite in den Bereichen Arbeitsgedächtnis, Reaktionszeitstabilität, Inhibition, kognitive Flexibilität, Daueraufmerksamkeit und geteilte Aufmerksamkeit mit Effektstärken im mittleren bis großen Bereich. Unterschiede zur Norm in der Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit traten nur in der Gruppe des unaufmerksamen Subtyps auf. Bei maximal 50 % der Kinder konnten in den genannten Parametern auffällige Minderleistungen festgestellt werden.
Preliminary psychometric analyses support the multi-dimensional representation of ADHD-specific knowledge and motivation for treatment. Further analyses of the validity of the questionnaire and on the sensitivity for changes should be undertaken.
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