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Verbal Working Memory as a Longitudinal Mechanism of Vocabulary Problems in Preschoolers with ADHD

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Abstract

Elucidation of early potential risk factors of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is important to allow for early identification of ADHD and targeted early intervention for children with ADHD. Delayed language skills, particularly poor vocabulary, is an early-developing potential risk factor that is thought to be involved in developmental pathways to ADHD; however, mechanisms explaining the relationship between poor vocabulary skills and ADHD symptoms are unclear and warrant investigation. The present study examines the relationship between poor vocabulary skills and ADHD symptoms by testing cognitive mechanisms, namely verbal working memory (WM), that might account for this link. Participants were 109 young children between the ages of three and six and their primary caregivers. Diagnostic information on ADHD symptoms was available from parents and teachers/daycare providers via standardized rating forms. Vocabulary skills and WM were measured through child performance on laboratory tasks. Mediation analyses found poor verbal working memory significantly partially explained the vocabulary-ADHD association for both parent and teacher-rated ADHD symptoms. Further, effects of verbal WM on the association between poor vocabulary and increased ADHD symptoms largely held at one-year follow-up. Development of early interventions targeting verbal WM may be a promising new direction for early ADHD intervention work.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the families who made this study possible. This research was supported by National Institute of Health and Human Development Grant 5R03 HD062599-02 to M. Martel.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute of Health and Human Development Grant 5R03 HD062599–02.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 111G Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA

    Monica L. Gremillion & Tess E. Smith

  2. Psychology Department, University of Kentucky, 207C Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA

    Michelle M. Martel

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  1. Monica L. Gremillion
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  2. Tess E. Smith
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Correspondence to Tess E. Smith.

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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

Monica L. Gremillion, Tess E. Smith, and Michelle M. Martel declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Gremillion, M.L., Smith, T.E. & Martel, M.M. Verbal Working Memory as a Longitudinal Mechanism of Vocabulary Problems in Preschoolers with ADHD. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 40, 130–138 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9625-7

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