Wenqing Jiang, Yan Li, Yasong Du and Juan Fan
Objective: This study aims to explore the characteristics of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the Fourth Edition of Wechsler Intelligence (WISC-IV).
Methods: The boys with ADHD were tested by WISC-IV, and the comparisons with healthy children were performed.
Results: The total IQ, (t=-4.964, P<0.001), general ability index (t=-2.443, P=0.016) and cognitive efficiency index (t=-5.810, P<0.001) of the study group were significantly lower than that of the control group, of which, the working memory (t=-5.354, P<0.001), processing speed (t=-4.593, P<0.001) and its various sub-tests scores of the subscales for cognitive processing efficiency index were significantly lower than that of the control group. The incidence of the "relatively low cognitive efficiency" feature of the study group (69.23%) was significantly higher than that of the control group (46.15%) (χ2=6.923, P=0.009). The performance of the learning factor in the study group was correlated with the total IQ and working memory of WISC.
Conclusions: Children with ADHD have intellectual characteristics of relatively low cognitive efficiency.