TABLE 1.
Attention, inattentive and hyperactive symptomatology, and executive functioning assessments undertaken.
| Domain | Task(s) | Procedure | Outcome measure | Variable used for analysis | Categorization of impairment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attention: Test of Everyday Attention for Children | |||||
| Selective attention | Sky Search | Circle targets while ignoring distractors on A3 sheet | Time per target circled on a sheet without distractors subtracted from the time per target circled during the test | Age‐ and sex‐specific scaled score (test mean [SD] = 10 [3]) | Scaled score < 6 |
| Sustained attention | Score! | Ten trials of counting the number of tonal sounds heard with varying lengths of silence between them | Accuracy number of correct total tonal counts out of 10 | ||
| Sustained and selective attention dual task | Sky Search dual task | Execute Sky Search and Score! tasks simultaneously | Sky Search dual task time per target minus Sky Search time per target adjusted for the correct number of tones counted | ||
| Attentional control | Creature counting | Seven trials of switching between counting figures on a page upwards (1–3) and downwards (1–3) several times per trial | Accuracy – number of correct totals out of 7 | ||
| Same or opposite worlds | Rapidly naming a string of printed ones and twos either with the correct name (1 say ‘one’– same world condition; 2 trials) or using the opposite name (1 say ‘two’– opposite world condition; 2 trials) | Difference between total time taken on the opposite and same world trials; additionally z‐scored to TDC mean and SD | z‐score > 1.5 | ||
| Non‐motor processing speed | Same world first time 14 | As above | Time taken on the first trial of the same world task, additionally z‐scored to TDC mean and SD 21 |
z‐score > 1.5 |
|
| ADHD symptomatology and executive functioning: Conners 3 | |||||
| Inattention symptoms | DSM‐5 Inattention Scale | Parent‐completed questionnaire related to observed behaviours related to symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity and impaired executive functioning where each question is scored 0–3, where 0 is not true at all, never, and seldom, and 3 is very much true, very often, very frequently | Total score for each scale | Age‐ and sex‐specific T‐score (test mean [SD] = 50 [10]) |
Elevated inattentive symptoms: inattentive T‐score ≥ 65, hyperactive or impulsive < 65 Elevated hyperactive or impulsive: hyperactive or impulsive T‐score ≥ 65, inattentive < 65 Elevated inattentive and hyperactive or impulsive symptoms: ADHD inattentive and hyperactive or impulsive T‐scores both ≥5 |
| Hyperactivity symptoms | DSM‐5 Hyperactivity Scale | ||||
| Executive functioning | Executive Functioning Impairment Scale | T‐score ≥ 65 | |||
Abbreviations: ADHD, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder; DSM‐5, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; TDC, typically developing children.