ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
This study aimed to compare the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (
WISC-IV) profiles of
children with
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (
ADHD) and typically-developing
children (TC) in
Korea.
METHODS:
The Korean version of the
WISC-IV and the Advanced Test of
Attention (ATA) were administered to 377
children and
adolescents 224 with
ADHD (age 8.2±2.1 years, 182
boys) and 153 TC (age 8.7±2.4 years, 68
boys). Partial correlation and an
analysis of covariance were used to investigate the relationship between the scores of the
WISC-IV and the ATA.
RESULTS:
The mean score of the full-scale
intelligence quotient was lower in
ADHD children than in TC (p<0.001). In analyses controlling for
gender and with the full-scale
intelligence quotient as a covariate, the
working memory index (WMI) (p<0.001) and values of the Digit span subtest (p=0.001) of the
WISC-IV were lower in the
ADHD group than in TC. The WMI (r=-0.26, p<0.001) and its subtest Arithmetic scores (r=-0.25, p<0.001) were negatively correlated with Commission errors on the auditory ATA.
CONCLUSION:
Children with
ADHD have significantly lower WMI scores, which were clinically correlated with Commission errors on the auditory task of the ATA. Thus, the WMI is an
indicator of
attention deficit in
children with
ADHD.
