title: Thought Disorder in Preschool Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
abstract: Preschool identification of and intervention for psychiatric symptoms has the potential for lifelong benefits. However, preschool identification of thought disorder, a symptom associated with long term risk for social and cognitive dysfunction, has received little attention with previous work limited to examining preschoolers with severe emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Using story-stem methodology, 12 children with ADHD and 12 children without ADHD, ages 4.0-6.0 years were evaluated for thought disorder. Thought disorder was reliably assessed (Cronbach's alpha = .958). Children with ADHD were significantly more likely than children without ADHD to exhibit thought disorder (75 vs 25 %; Fischer's Exact Test = .0391). Thought disorder can be reliably assessed in preschool children and is present in preschool children with psychiatric illness including preschool children with ADHD. Thought disorder may be identifiable in preschool years across a broad range of psychiatric illnesses and thus may be an appropriate target of intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13001 E 17th Pl Mail Stop F546, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13001 E 17th Pl Mail Stop F546, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.|Children's Hospital Colorado Pediatric Mental Health Institute, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kelsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13001 E 17th Pl Mail Stop F546, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.|Children's Hospital Colorado Pediatric Mental Health Institute, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Ayelet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Talmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13001 E 17th Pl Mail Stop F546, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noonan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13001 E 17th Pl Mail Stop F546, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA. Randy.Ross@ucdenver.edu.
authors.forename: Randal G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
keywords: ADHD; Preschool; Story completion; Thought disorder