A PILOT-STUDY OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION IN GIRLS WITH ADHD

Objective: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is known to have neuropsychological consequences that are evident from psychologi cal tests and from measures of school failure. However, most available data are based on studies of boys. Our goal was to assess, in this pi lot study, whether ADHD in girls expressed neuropsychological features similar to those found in boys. Method: Subjects were 43 girls, aged 6 to 17 years, with DSM-III-R ADHD and 36 comparison girls without ADH D. information on neuropsychological performance was obtained in a sta ndardized manner blind to clinical status, Results: Girls with ADHD we re significantly more impaired on estimated IQ than comparison girls d espite being matched on other demographic variables. Relative to compa rison girls, the girls with ADHD were also significantly more impaired on the Freedom From Distractibility subtests of the WISC-R and on ari thmetic and reading achievement scores, Although their mean performanc e on executive function tests was generally poorer than that of contro l girls, there were no statistically significant differences on these measures. Conclusions: Girls with ADHD have impairments in some tests of attention and achievement. However, neuropsychological performance on tests of executive function was less impaired than that previously documented in boys with ADHD. if confirmed in a larger sample, these f indings suggest that girls with ADHD may be less vulnerable to executi ve function deficits than boys.