Evidence for anomalous lateralization across domain in ADHD children as well as adults identified with the Wender Utah rating scale

Two studies assessed the relation between ADHD symptomatology and correlate s of cerebral dominance. In the first, laterality was examined in school ch ildren (N = 57), 28 with ADHD. Parental reports of greater attentional symp toms were related to non-righthandedness, but teacher reports were related to anomalous laterality of foot, ear and eye, as well as hand. This suggest s that the previously reported association between ADHD and non-righthanded ness may not be unique, but instead indicative of a more general condition of anomalous lateralization. This possibility was examined in study two, in which 234 undergraduates were assessed. As expected, the 26 adults identif ied by the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) as retrospectively reporting mor e ADHD characteristics were found to be generally male. Also, in a replicat ion of study one, enhanced WURS scores were associated with anomalous later alization beyond handedness. In this case, ADHD characteristics were associ ated with a shift away from a right bias for hand, foot, and ear, but not e ye. Factor analysis of the extensive Steenhuis and Bryden handedness questi onnaire was then undertaken to determine whether all aspects of handedness, or only a subset, are associated with ADHD. The factor analysis indicated that the retrospective reports of ADHD characteristics were associated with only two of the three dimensions. Though limitations such as the gender co mposition of the groups in study one tempers the conclusions, the results o f both studies support previous findings that ADHD is associated with anoma lous laterality, but also indicate that non-righthandedness is not an adequ ate characterization of this relationship. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.