Response Inhibition and Academic Abilities in Typically Developing Children with Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder-Combined Subtype

Research in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) generally utilizes clinical samples or children with comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Findings indicated that children with ADHD experience academic underachievement and poor performance on measures of response inhibition (RI). Less is known, about the neuropsychological profile of typically developing children with ADHD. The aim of the current study was twofold: (1) determine if academic skills and RI were impaired in typically developing children with ADHD-combined subtype (ADHD-C) and (2) determine to what extent RI may predict academic abilities. Children with ADHD-C did not differ on any academic domain from controls. Children with ADHD-C performed more poorly than controls on RI measures. Regression analyses suggest that Written Expression ability was significantly influenced by RI. No other academic domain was related to RI. Results suggest that children with ADHD-C may experience impairments in RI despite adequate academic functioning. Impaired RI is not solely responsible for difficulties found in academic skills in ADHD-C.