Intellectual and Affective Characteristics Of Attention Deficit Disordered Children

Abstract

A referral population of sixty-nine males and thirty-nine females was divided into Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and non-ADD subgroups according to teacher ratings of the relative presence of the DSM-III criteria. These subgroups were then compared on two intelligence tests, the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability and the WISC-R, and a measure of Depression also adapted from DSM-III. Though not intellectually distinct, the ADD group was significantly more depressed (p<.01) relative to teacher ratings using the modified DSM-III criteria. The issue of whether the diagnostic criteria for ADD are actually symptomatic of other clinical disorders is discussed.