Sustained Attention in Children with Adhd

Introduction. The symptoms that comprise inattentive behaviour in ADHD include problems with focusing on a task and sustaining attention over a long period, even in advantageous external conditions. There is also a characteristic excessive distractibility under the influence of other, unimportant stimuli. Thus attention processes are one of the main variables which form the clinical picture of ADHD. The research published to date on this topic does not, however, lead to an unequivocal conclusion concerning the existence of sustained attention deficits (vigilance deficits). The aim of our research was to assess this aspect of attention processes in children with the combined and inattentive type of ADHD. Material and Methods. The research group consisted of 132 children, age 9;06-12;02 (combined type – 64 children, inattentive type – 21 children, control group 47 children). The level of sustained attention was defined as the capability to sustain attention over a long period (the 20-minute Stop Signal Task requires a high level of vigilance), and to perform effectively a monotonous, easy, but rather long task (the 20-minute Continuous Performance Task). Results. The results obtained by the children from both clinical groups differ significantly in all parameters from the controls. This suggests that there exists an attention alertness network deficit in ADHD. No significant differences were observed between the combined and inattentive type. Conclusions. Our results confirmed problems with sustained attention during long-lasting and monotonous tasks in ADHD children. The deficits of sustained attention in combined ADHD and inattention ADHD are alike, so those deficits are common for all children with ADHD. SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN CHILDREN WITH ADHD