Variations in Verbal and Visual Memory Abilities Between Clinical Anxiety and ADHD

Objective: Clinical anxiety can oftentimes manifest in similar ways to ADHD. Both may be associated with restlessness, inattention, and various neurocognitive complaints. Although current diagnostic practices remain focused on DSM-IV criteria, objective measures are commonly utilized to support diagnoses. The current study sought to determine if any significant difference existed between groups in aspects of verbal and visual memory. Method: The performances of 341 patients diagnosed with anxiety and 3,325 patients diagnosed with ADHD, both using the DSM-IVTR criteria, were compared. Neurocognitive data were obtained by way of the verbal memory and visual memory subtests of the CNS Vital Signs. Group means and standard deviations were available for comparison. Two independent sample t-tests were used. A Bonferroni correction was utilized to avoid inflation of the family-wise error rate. Results: No significant difference existed between groups in regards to visual memory. However, ADHD was associated with significantly lower outcomes within the realm of verbal memory. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that although similarities are found between ADHD and clinical anxiety on the behavioral surface, differences can be found on objective assessment. Group differences in verbal memory may be explained by greater impediment of attentional capacity and cognitive efficiency in ADHD compared with anxiety.