Continuous Performance Test (CPT) of college students with ADHD, psychiatric disorders, cognitive deficits, or no diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE
The Conner's Continuous Performance Test (CPT) was administered to four groups of adult college students who self-referred for comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation and received either no diagnosis (n = 30) or a diagnosis of ADHD (n = 26), a psychiatric disorder (n = 17), or various cognitive deficits (n = 22).


RESULTS
The groups did not differ with respect to age, sex, race, or IQ. Although the ADHD group made more CPT errors of omission, had longer response times, and showed greater variability in responding than the other three groups, these differences did not reach statistical significance when analyzed parametrically using standard scores. But when the pattern of scores across the groups was analyzed nonparametrically, significant and interpretable results emerged.


CONCLUSIONS
The CPT reliably differentiated between individuals with ADHD and both normal college students and individuals with psychiatric diagnoses but not persons with learning/cognitive disorders.
Advokat
Claire
C
Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, 236 Audubon Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. cadvoka@lsu.edu
Martino
Leslie
L
Hill
B D
BD
Gouvier
William
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results