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Executive functioning in high-IQ adults with ADHD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2010

K. M. Antshel ,
S. V. Faraone ,
K. Maglione ,
A. E. Doyle ,
R. Fried ,
L. J. Seidman  and
J. Biederman
K. M. Antshel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
S. V. Faraone*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
K. Maglione
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
A. E. Doyle
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
R. Fried
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
L. J. Seidman
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
J. Biederman
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: S. V. Faraone, Ph.D., State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Syracuse, NY, USA. (Email: faraones@upstate.edu)
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Abstract

Background

To examine the association between psychological tests of executive functioning and functional outcomes among high-IQ adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Method

Subjects were high-IQ adults with (n=64) and without ADHD (n=53). Subjects were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing executive functioning.

Results

High-IQ adults with ADHD performed less well than those without ADHD on several psychological tests of executive functioning, including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Color and Word Test, Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF), California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and an auditory continuous performance test (CPT). Test performance in the high-IQ adult ADHD group, however, was average. In the entire sample, performance on several tests of executive functioning including the ROCF and the CVLT were significant predictors of real-world functioning.

Conclusions

High-IQ adults with ADHD perform less well on tests of executive functioning relative to high-IQ control participants. Performance on several tests of executive functioning was a significant predictor of functioning.

Keywords

Adult ADHDexecutive functioningIQ
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 11 , November 2010 , pp. 1909 - 1918
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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