Cognitive Abilities in Children with ADHD, Comorbid Epilepsy and Typically Developed Children

The aim of the study was to assess the differences in cognitive abilities compared across clinical and control groups. It was hypothesized that differences between groups would be small or non-existant, due to rather heterogeneous clinical profiles. And they could be partially explained by participants’ age as cognitive abilities develope over time. Further analysis of the sample was performed by creating cognitive ability profiles of the participants. The study used data from the project “Development of a Screening Method for Children with ADHD and CSWS in Children aged 7–15”, and included data from 97 children, which were divided into 3 groups: ADHD, combined ADHD and epilepsy and control group. For assessing cognitive abilities an extended battery of executive and other cognitive computerized tests were used: Stroop Color and Word Test, Digit Span Test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, and Continious Performance Test. The analysis of cognitive ability profiles reveals a wide range of heterogeneity in both clinical and control groups. It revealed that children with ADHD and combined ADHD and epilepsy have more profiles with lower cognitive abilities compared to control group. Some children with ADHD have similar cognitive profiles to those of typically developed children, suggesting that in some cases there may be a small difference in cognitive performance between ADHD and typically developed children.