title: The effects of childhood disruptive disorder comorbidity on P3 event-related brain potentials in preadolescents with ADHD.
abstract: The present study examined the degree to which the P300 component of the visual brain event-related potential and associated task performance deficits often observed in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are attributable to comorbid childhood disruptive disorders using a community sample of 11-year olds from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Subjects were divided into "ADHD-pure" (ADHD without oppositional defiant disorder, ODD, or conduct disorder, CD), "ADHD-comorbid" (ADHD with ODD or CD), and comparison (no childhood disruptive disorder) groups using DSM-III-R diagnoses. Results showed that ADHD-comorbid but not ADHD-pure subjects displayed significant P3 amplitude reduction and poorer task performance compared to controls. No group effects for P3 latency or reaction time were seen. Although ADHD-comorbid children had marginally more ADHD symptoms compared to ADHD-pure children, this did not account for their reduced P3, suggesting that the observed neurobehavioral deficits reflected the effects of co-occurring childhood disruptive disorders.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Henry H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Iacono
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bernat
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McGue