Relação entre funções executivas e motricidade fina em crianças com Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade

Abstract

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have motor skills impairment that may or may not be related to the associated presence of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). When there is no associated diagnosis of DCD, motor impairment can be investigated in terms of its relationship with executive dysfunction, or in terms of the neurobiological bases of ADHD. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of children with ADHD with the performance of typically developing children in tests of fine motor coordination and executive functions (EF), establishing the relationship between motor and cognitive performance. This study included two groups: 1) 26 children clinically diagnosed with ADHD, 23 boys and 3 girls aged between 7 and 14 years (mean of 9,38 and standard deviation 1,94) and 2) 46 children without any diagnosis of psychomotor disturbance, whose development was considered typical by their parents and teachers, 26 boys and 20 girls aged between 7 and 14 years (mean of 9,07 and standard deviation of 1,87). For comparisons with the group of children with ADHD 26 children matched for age, sex and intelligence level were selected. The assessment instruments were interview to assess sociodemographic characteristics; Child Behavior Checklist; The Home Environment Resources Scale; Assessment of general intelligence by the Test Raven Colored Progressive Matrices; Tower of London Test, Fluency Verbal Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Children's Gambling Task to assess executive functions; Movement Assessment Battery for Children and the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire for the assessment of motor skills and more specifically of fine motor coordination and the presence of DCD. Children with ADHD had more executive dysfunction and motor skills impairment than the control group, even when matched for age, sex and intelligence. The motor performance in the tests was correlated with the EF measures. The EF were the best predictors of fine motor performance compared to other variables. Fifteen children with ADHD (57,6%) showed motor performance consistent with a diagnosis of DCD.