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Reading performance in children with ADHD: an eye-tracking study

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Abstract

Reading disabilities have a profound impact on the academic performance and achievement of children. Although oculomotor pattern abnormalities during reading in children with dyslexia are well known, those in individuals with attention deficit and hyperactive disorders (ADHD) — who also frequently exhibit a reading impairment — remain largely undetermined. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the peculiarities of oculomotor pattern abnormalities during a reading task. An eye-tracker was used to record eye movements in four distinct groups of children with neurodevelopmental disorders: children with dyslexia, children with ADHD with and without comorbid dyslexia, and in a group of typically developing children (TD). Ninety-six children participated in the study (24 children per group, IQ- and age-matched groups). The duration of fixation, the total reading time, and the number of forward and backward saccades were similar in children with dyslexia and ADHD + dyslexia, but were significantly different from those observed in children with ADHD and with TD. Our findings suggest a link between dyslexia and oculomotor reading impairments in both children with dyslexia and children with ADHD + dyslexia, indicating that the oculomotor pattern in children with ADHD without comorbid dyslexia is similar to that observed in TD children. We suggest that an objective eye movement recording during a reading task could help clinicians to better evaluate the possible presence of comorbid dyslexia in children with ADHD. Furthermore, children with ADHD with and without comorbid dyslexia could also have working memory deficiencies. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the children who participated in the study as well as the practitioners from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department (Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France).

Funding

MP Bucci was supported by the Académie des Sciences, Institut de France/Fondation NRJ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7114, MoDyCo, CNRS Université Paris Nanterre, 92001, Nanterre, France

    Simona Caldani & Maria Pia Bucci

  2. Centre for the Functional Exploration of Balance in Children (EFEE), Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France

    Simona Caldani & Maria Pia Bucci

  3. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France

    Eric Acquaviva, Ana Moscoso, Hugo Peyre & Richard Delorme

  4. Paris University, Paris, France

    Hugo Peyre & Richard Delorme

  5. Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

    Richard Delorme

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  1. Simona Caldani
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Caldani, S., Acquaviva, E., Moscoso, A. et al. Reading performance in children with ADHD: an eye-tracking study. Ann. of Dyslexia 72, 552–565 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-022-00269-x

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