Behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome for children: An examination of clinical utility for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

摘要

The present study evaluated the utility of the Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children for discerning differences in executive functioning between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children and normal controls and examined its associations with real-life executive function as rated by parent reports on the Dysexecutive Questionnaire for Children. Sixty-three children diagnosed with ADHD and 60 normal healthy peers were recruited for this study. All participants completed the Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children, while their parents completed the Dysexecutive Questionnaire for Children. Results revealed that the ADHD group exhibited significantly poorer performance than the controls on 3 subtests of the Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (ie, Playing Cards Test, Water Test, and Zoo Map Test 2), as well as on the total Dysexecutive Questionnaire for Children. Significant correlation was found between the total Dysexecutive Questionnaire for Children and the 6-Part Test. Findings suggested that some subtests of the Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children were particularly useful for detecting real-life executive dysfunction in ADHD. Yet, further studies are needed to provide extended validity data.