Sensory modulation dysfunction in children with attention‐deficit‐hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

This study investigates the presence of sensory modulation dysfunction (SMD) among children with attention‐deficit‐hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty‐six children with ADHD (mean age 8.3 years, 18 males, 8 females), and 30 typically developing children (mean age 8.2 years, 21 males, 9 females) were tested using a laboratory procedure that gauges responses to repeated sensory stimulation by measuring electrodermal reactivity (EDR). Parental report measures of limitations in sensory, emotional, and attentional dimensions were administered using the Short Sensory Profile, the Leiter International Performance Scale‐Revised, Parent Rating subscales, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Compared to the typical sample, the children with ADHD displayed greater abnormalities in sensory modulation on both physiological and parent‐report measures. The children with ADHD also displayed more variability in responses. Within the group with ADHD, levels of SMD were highly correlated with measures of psychopathology on the CBCL. Implications of findings relate to the importance of considering sensory processing abilities in a subgroup of children with ADHD.

Re-examining the Epidemiology of Sensory Regulation Dysfunction and Comorbid Psychopathology

“…Comparison of the figures obtained with the SSP and the SSP-Expert reveal that these relationships hold even after items which could be construed as measures of emotional and behavior disorders have been removed. This is consistent with findings from studies using physiological measures to assess sensory regulation rather than parent questionnaires which also indicate relationships between poor sensory regulation and psychiatric disorder (Davies and Gavin 2007;Mangeot et al 2001;Miller et al 2001). Clearly, further research in which parent questionnaires and physiological or other objective measures of sensory regulation are compared to parent and clinician ratings of disorder in both clinical and non-clinical populations are needed to further elucidate the relationships between sensory processing and psychiatric impairment in children.…”

“…These studies are limited, however, because they are based either on small or non-representative samples (e.g. Gunn 2008;Mangeot et al 2001) or recruited participants from clinical populations, thereby limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from a broader community based sample (e.g. Dunn and Bennett 2002).…”

“…Currently, there are some data indicating that poor sensory regulation co-occurs with other psychiatric disorders including ADHD (Dunn and Bennett 2002;Mangeot et al 2001;Parush et al 1997); externalizing disorders (Gunn 2008) and internalizing disorders (Goldsmith et al 2006). Parush and colleagues (1997) used the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire to compare parent reports of sensory functioning on the 125-item Sensory Profile for 4-6 year old children with and without ADHD.…”

“…Between 6.5% and 15% of the children without ADHD scored more than 1.5 standard deviations below the mean on the Sensory Profile, indicating sensory regulation difficulties, while 12.5-67% of the children with ADHD had sensory profile scores in this range. In a study using the Short Sensory Profile to assess sensory modulation and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to assess ADHD in a group of 5-13 year old children, Mangeot et al (2001) reported that 20 out of 26 children with ADHD scored at least one standard deviation below the mean on the SSP as compared to only one child in the typically developing group. Gunn (2008) used the CBCL to identify children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).…”

“…Furthermore, child emotional and behavior problems were assessed with parent questionnaires such as the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire or the Child Behavior Checklist (e.g. Gunn 2008;Mangeot et al 2001;Parush et al 1997) instead of structured clinical interviews such as the Diagnostic Interview for Children (DISC; Shaffer et al 1996) or the young child version DISC-YC (Fisher and Lucas 2006), now commonly used in studies of child psychiatric epidemiology. Finally, some item overlap between the SSP and parent questionnaires and structured interviews of child emotional and behavior problems may inflate estimates of the relationship between poor sensory regulation and behavior problems.…”