Error monitoring in children with ADHD or reading disorder: An event-related potential study

This study compared children with ADHD, reading disorder (RD), ADHD + RD, and control children on behavioural (post-error slowing and post-error accuracy) and event-related potential (Ne and Pe) measures of error monitoring. Children with ADHD did not differ from children without ADHD in post-error slowing but showed less post-error accuracy enhancement, as evidenced by a higher proportion of double-errors. We found a smaller Ne but normal Pe amplitude in children with RD, and a smaller Pe but normal Ne amplitude in children with ADHD. Children from the comorbid group showed both a smaller Ne and a smaller Pe amplitude, which suggests that they showed the additive combination of the deficits found in both separate disorders. The results of the present study suggest that it might be important to control for the presence of comorbid RD when examining error monitoring in ADHD and that various measures of post-error adaptation should be included.