Attentional functions and trait anxiety in children with ADHD

The present study examined the effects of Trait Anxiety on attentional task performance in children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 220 students between 8 and 12 years performed two neuropsychological tasks related to selective and sustained attention. They were classified into four groups: ADHD + ANX, students with ADHD and Trait Anxiety (n = 73); ADHD (n = 53); ANX, a group with Trait Anxiety (n = 15); and a non-clinical control group (n = 41). Results offer evidence in both attentional tasks that the ADHD group performed worse than the non-clinical control and ANX groups, and the ANX group achieved similar results to the control group. Finally, the trait anxiety factor did not contribute to the performance of the different attentional tasks in the ADHD + ANX group. These results suggest important differences in ADHD symptomatology and comorbidity, indicating implications of these measures for differential diagnosis and treatment.