title: Utility of a CPT in diagnosing ADHD among a representative sample of high-risk children: a cautionary study.
abstract: Continuous performance tests (CPTs) are widely used in the assessment and study of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although CPTs have reliably found differences between children with ADHD and normal controls, discriminating between children with ADHD and children with subclinical levels of behavioral or cognitive problems is a more clinically relevant and difficult endeavor. Additionally, most studies use convenience samples from clinical care settings that may not represent the ADHD population as a whole. The current study assessed the utility of a clinically used CPT, the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), in distinguishing between children with ADHD and children with subclinical levels of attention/behavior problems. Participants constituted a representative sample of elementary school students at high risk for ADHD, including 116 children with ADHD and 51 subclinical controls. Results found no significant differences between the ADHD and subclinical group on CPT variables, and CPT performance did not reliably predict group membership. Implications of the findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical & Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0165, USA. apreston@phhp.ufl.edu
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.forename: Eileen B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Fennell
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bussing
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012307:Risk Factors