Social and leadership abilities in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: relation with cognitive-attentional capacities.
OBJECTIVE
We have analyzed social and leadership abilities in children with ADHD and their relationship with execution of tasks involving sustained attention and inhibitory control.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of 170 patients with ADHD was performed. We evaluated leadership and social abilities, measured through the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) and their relations with the results of different neuropsychological tests, including Wechsler scale for children (WISC-IV) and Conners' continuous performance (CPT II).


RESULTS
In the differential analysis between the IQ, results of the tests and their relation to BASC scores, a statistically significant relation was observed between attentional capacity expected according to the patient's intelligence and social skills scores (according to BASC filled out by mothers and teachers) and leadership (according to all informants) sections.


CONCLUSIONS
Attentional difficulties are closely related to social competence in patients with ADHD, either by a direct cause-effect relationship or a shared dysexecutive substrate of this disorder.
Unidad de Neurología Infanto-Juvenil Hospital Universitario Quirón. Centro CADE. Madrid. aferjaen@telefonica.net
Alberto
A
Fernández-Jaén
Daniel
D
Martín Fernández-Mayoralas
Sonia
S
López-Arribas
Alexandra
A
Pardos-Véglia
Blanca
B
Muñiz-Borrega
Carolina
C
García-Savaté
Baldomero
B
Prados-Parra
Beatriz
B
Calleja-Pérez
Nuria
N
Muñoz-Jareño
Ana L
AL
Fernández-Perrone
D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior