Language Abilities of Children With ADHD

NCT03917316 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: Language and ADHD
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 97
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

BACKGROUND: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD) is associated with language difficulties within expressive, receptive and pragmatic areas of language.Telling stories is a particularly interesting language task as is provides the possibility of investigating how children use their language in everyday interactions. Thus, investigating how children with ADHD tell stories provides a more naturalistic impression of their language abilities. However, the extent, causes, and clinical relevance of language and narrative difficulties in ADHD remain largely unknown. Language may be the key to understanding and improving the functional impairments associated with ADHD such as social and academic function. AIM: The overall aim of the current study was to investigate the association between language, narrative ability and ADHD, what contributes to this association, as well as the clinical relevance of language difficulties in ADHD in relation to academic and social function. METHOD: Children between 7-11 years old with ADHD will be recruited from Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby and compared to children without ADHD recruited from schools in the community. All children will be assessed at two separate meetings at the Department of Psychology, Aarhus University. The total number of participants in each group will depend on the intake of patients at Aarhus University Hospital, but a maximum of 100 children will be sampled in each group.

Conditions

ADHD

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (13)

• General language ability

  Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 (Semel, Wiig \& Secord, 2003), measures general language ability. Rawscores on the task are converted to scale scores with a range of 1-14. A scale score of 7-10 is average, above indicates better language proficiency.

  One day

• Pragmatic language ability

  Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2; Bishop, 2002), index for pragmatic ability, scaled scores (0-14), where 7-10 is average and above indicates better pragmatic language ability.

  One day

• Narrative abilities

  Online story-telling of the wordless picture book "Frog, where are you"

  One day

• Working memory 2back task

  A self-designed 2back task modelled from Friedman et al., 2008). Measures the child's working memory. Outcome is mean accuracy, range 0-1, with higher scores indicating better working memory.

  One day

• Working memory Mental Counters task

  Mental Counters (Huizinga et al., 2006). Measures the child's working memory. Outcome is mean accuracy, range 0-1, with higher scores indicating better working memory.

  One day

• Working memory Tic Tac Toe task

  Tic Tac Toe (Huizinga et al., 2006). Measures the child's working memory. Outcome is mean accuracy, range 0-1, with higher scores indicating better working memory.

  One day

• Inhibition Stop-signal task

  Stop-Signal task (Logan 1994; Logan, Schachar \& Tannock, 1997; Williams, Pronesse, Schachar; Logan \& Tannock, 1999); outcome Stop-signal Reaction time (SSRT), with slower reaction times indicating problems with inhibtion.

  One day

• Inhibition Flanker task

  Flanker task (Huyser et al., 2011), outcome median reaction time on conflict trials, with higher median reaction times indicating problems within inhibition.

  One day

• Inhibition Go/No Go task

  Go/No go (Tsujimoto, 2006), outcome percent false alarms, higher percents indicating problems within inhibition.

  One day

• Social abilities

  Social Competence Inventory-2 (Rydell Hagekull \& Bohlin, 1997) a questionnaire about social competencies. The parents rate their child on a scale of 1-5 on 25 questions, higher scores indicate better social ability.

  One day

• Academic abilities

  5-15 questionnaire (Kadesjö, Janols, Korkman, Mickelsson, Strand, Trillingsgaard \& Gillberg, 2005). Questions from the learning domain. The parent rates the child on a scale of 1-3 on 29 questions about academic ability, with higher scores indicating academic difficulties.

  One day

• Academic abilities teacher

  Teacher Telephone Interview (TTI, Tannock, Manassis \& Fung, 2003, revised and translated with permission from R. Tannock). The teacher rates the child on a scale of 1-5 on 9 school subjects. Higher scores indicate better academic ability.

  One day

• Executive functions

  Childhood Executive Functioning inventory (CHEXI; Nyberg \& Thorell, 2008). Questionnaire. The parent rates the child on a scale of 1-5 on 26 questions concerning the childs executive functioning. Higher scores indicate problems within executive functioning.

  One day

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Reaction time

  One day

• General cognitive abilities

  One day

Study Arms (2)

ADHD

Other: Language and neuropsychological tests

Control

Other: Language and neuropsychological tests

Interventions

Language and neuropsychological tests OTHER

Tests related to language, narrative and specific and general cognitive function

ADHD; Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

The clinical group of children with ADHD will be recruited from the Aarhus University Hospital and the typical developing control group will be recruited from schools in the community.

You may qualify if:

• Age between 7 and 11 years.
• For the clinical group: Current ADHD diagnosis (Development and Well-Being Assessment; DAWBA, Goodman et al., 2000).

You may not qualify if:

• Autism spectrum diagnosis (ASD) based on the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA, Goodman et al., 2000) or a history of ASD based on parent report on a background questionnaire.
• Epilepsy or known brain damage based on parent report (background questionnaire).
• IQ \< 70 based on an intelligence test.
• Danish as a second language, based on parent report (background questionnaire).
• Low birth weight (\<1500 grams) based on parent report (background questionnaire).
• Premature birth (before 32nd gestation week) based on parent report (background questionnaire).
• Use of medication that is expected to affect cognition (background questionnaire).
• Impaired sight, hearing, or motor function (as this would interfere with task performance), based on parent report (background questionnaire).
• For the control group: Current (based on the DAWBA) or previous (based on parent- reports from the background questionnaire) ADHD diagnosis.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Aarhus: lead
• Aarhus University Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychology, Aarhus University

Aarhus, (non-US), 8000, Denmark

Location

Related Publications (10)

• Bellani M, Moretti A, Perlini C, Brambilla P. Language disturbances in ADHD. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2011 Dec;20(4):311-5. doi: 10.1017/s2045796011000527.

  PMID: 22201208 BACKGROUND

• Flory K, Milich R, Lorch EP, Hayden AN, Strange C, Welsh R. Online story comprehension among children with ADHD: which core deficits are involved? J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2006 Dec;34(6):853-65. doi: 10.1007/s10802-006-9070-7. Epub 2006 Oct 19.

  PMID: 17051434 BACKGROUND

• Jensen, K. d. L. (2011). Specifik sprogforstyrrelse - en komorbid forstyrrelse ved ADHD Best Practice, 14, 36-37.

  BACKGROUND

• Korrel H, Mueller KL, Silk T, Anderson V, Sciberras E. Research Review: Language problems in children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - a systematic meta-analytic review. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2017 Jun;58(6):640-654. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12688. Epub 2017 Feb 10.

  PMID: 28186338 BACKGROUND

• Sciberras E, Mueller KL, Efron D, Bisset M, Anderson V, Schilpzand EJ, Jongeling B, Nicholson JM. Language problems in children with ADHD: a community-based study. Pediatrics. 2014 May;133(5):793-800. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-3355.

  PMID: 24753530 BACKGROUND

• Gremillion ML, Martel MM. Semantic language as a mechanism explaining the association between ADHD symptoms and reading and mathematics underachievement. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2012 Nov;40(8):1339-49. doi: 10.1007/s10802-012-9650-7.

  PMID: 22661106 BACKGROUND

• Lambek R, Tannock R, Dalsgaard S, Trillingsgaard A, Damm D, Thomsen PH. Executive dysfunction in school-age children with ADHD. J Atten Disord. 2011 Nov;15(8):646-55. doi: 10.1177/1087054710370935. Epub 2010 Sep 21.

  PMID: 20858784 BACKGROUND

• Purvis KL, Tannock R. Language abilities in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, reading disabilities, and normal controls. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1997 Apr;25(2):133-44. doi: 10.1023/a:1025731529006.

  PMID: 9109030 BACKGROUND

• Staikova E, Gomes H, Tartter V, McCabe A, Halperin JM. Pragmatic deficits and social impairment in children with ADHD. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2013 Dec;54(12):1275-83. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12082. Epub 2013 May 18.

  PMID: 23682627 BACKGROUND

• Whitely C, Colozzo P. Who's Who? Memory updating and character reference in children's narratives. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2013 Oct;56(5):1625-36. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2013/12-0176). Epub 2013 Jun 19.

  PMID: 23785191 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity

Interventions

Neuropsychological Tests

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Psychological Tests; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 4, 2019
• First Posted: April 17, 2019
• Study Start: May 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: January 1, 2022
• Study Completion: January 19, 2022
• Last Updated: May 12, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

DK (1)