Background:

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorder (SLD) generally have difficulties in social cognition and display impairments involving emotion and face and prosody perception and reduced empathy, indicating theory of mind (ToM) impairment. The objective of this work was to assess and compare the executive functions and ToM in children with ADHD and SLD.

Methods:

Twenty children diagnosed with ADHD, 20 children diagnosed with SLD, and 20 normal healthy children in the age group of 7 to 15 years, IQ between 90 and 110 (average intelligence) of any gender, were recruited. All participants were assessed using neuropsychological tests of executive functions and ToM.

Results:

Significant differences were found on early ToM, basic ToM, advanced ToM, and mean scores on ToM inventory between ADHD and control groups (P ≤ 0.001). Similarly, significant differences were found between ADHD and SLD groups on early, basic, advanced, and mean ToM inventory scores (P < 0.001). No significant differences were found between the control and SLD groups on ToM measures. Further, in the ToM task battery, on task D and task G, significant differences were found between the SLD and control groups at P = 0.04 and P = 0.03 respectively. Differences between ADHD and control groups were also statistically significant on task D and task G at P < 0.001 and P = 0.033. Executive functions in the form of set-shifting and response inhibition were significantly poor in the ADHD group and SLD group at P < 0.001 and P < 0.05 levels, respectively, when compared to the control group.

Conclusion:

Children with ADHD displayed more deficits in the ToM inventory and tasks than children having SLD and healthy children of their similar age and educational background. Executive functions (set-shifting and response inhibition) were poorer in children with ADHD and children with SLD when compared to healthy children of their similar age and educational background.

中文翻译：

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注意力缺陷多动障碍和特定学习障碍儿童的心理和执行功能理论

背景：

患有注意力缺陷多动障碍 (ADHD) 和特定学习障碍 (SLD) 的儿童通常在社会认知方面存在困难，并表现出涉及情绪、面部和韵律感知的障碍以及同理心降低，表明心智理论 (ToM) 障碍。这项工作的目的是评估和比较 ADHD 和 SLD 儿童的执行功能和 ToM。

方法：

招募了 20 名被诊断患有多动症的儿童、20 名被诊断患有 SLD 的儿童和 20 名正常健康的儿童，年龄在 7 至 15 岁之间，智商在 90 至 110（平均智力）之间，不限性别。使用执行功能和 ToM 的神经心理学测试对所有参与者进行评估。

结果：

ADHD 组和对照组之间的早期 ToM、基本 ToM、高级 ToM 和 ToM 库存平均得分存在显着差异（P ≤ 0.001）。同样，ADHD 和 SLD 组在早期、基本、高级和平均 ToM 库存评分方面存在显着差异（P < 0.001）。在 ToM 测量上，对照组和 SLD 组之间没有发现显着差异。此外，在 ToM 任务组中，在任务 D 和任务 G 上，SLD 组和对照组之间存在显着差异，分别为 P = 0.04 和 P = 0.03。ADHD 和对照组之间的差异在任务 D 和任务 G 上也有统计学意义，P < 0.001 和 P = 0.033。ADHD 组和 SLD 组在 P < 0.001 和 P < 0.05 的水平上，以设定转换和反应抑制形式存在的执行功能显着较差，

结论：

与患有 SLD 的儿童和具有相似年龄和教育背景的健康儿童相比，患有 ADHD 的儿童在 ToM 清单和任务中表现出更多的缺陷。与年龄和教育背景相似的健康儿童相比，患有 ADHD 的儿童和患有 SLD 的儿童的执行功能（设置转换和反应抑制）较差。