title: Contribution of organizational strategy to verbal learning and memory in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: Statistical mediation modeling was used to test the hypothesis that poor use of a semantic organizational strategy contributes to verbal learning and memory deficits in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Comparison of 28 adults with ADHD and 34 healthy controls revealed lower performance by the ADHD group on tests of verbal learning and memory, sustained attention, and use of semantic organization during encoding. Mediation modeling indicated that state anxiety, but not semantic organization, significantly contributed to the prediction of both learning and delayed recall in the ADHD group. The pattern of findings suggests that decreased verbal learning and memory in adult ADHD is due in part to situational anxiety and not to poor use of organizational strategies during encoding.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH, USA. robert.m.roth@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: Heather A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Wishart
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Flashman
authors.forename: Henry J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Riordan
authors.forename: Leighton
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huey
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Saykin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary; D014888:Wechsler Scales