title: A developmental index using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: implications for the diagnosis and nature of ADHD.
abstract: The possible utility of Wechsler's Deterioration Index (WDI) in analyzing children's Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) results was explored in this study. Clinical records of children with learning disabilities (LD) and children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were reviewed to determine if the WDI predicted the presence or severity of the disorders. The ages of the children ranged from 6 to 14. In two independent samples of children with LD (n = 35 and n = 26), the WDI did not predict LD status or severity. The LD samples were mostly male--85% and 57%, respectively. However, the WDI scores did significantly distinguish children with ADHD (n = 10) from nondisabled children (n = 10). The results were cross-validated on an independent sample of children with ADHD (n = 17) when compared to non-ADHD children (n = 22) who experienced significant behavioral difficulties. The ADHD samples were also mostly male--90% and 89%, respectively. The WDI classified only 59% of the children with ADHD and 86% of the non-ADHD children correctly. It is recommended that the WDI be considered a developmental index rather than a deterioration index in children. It is also recommended that significant WDI elevation (greater than .20) be considered to raise the question of ADHD, rather than simply yielding a diagnosis of ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Science, Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown 17057.
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Bowers
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Risser
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Suchanec
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Tinker
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ramer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domoto
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*