This study examined the relationship between working memory and ADHD symptoms in children aged 6-12 years old. Working memory was assessed using subscales of the Digit Span and Arithmetic subtests from the WISC-IV. ADHD symptoms were measured using the Conners 3 questionnaire completed by parents. Results found that the Arithmetic and Digit Span Backward subscales significantly predicted inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms. Individual working memory subscales were better predictors of dimensional ADHD symptoms than the overall Working Memory Index score. This suggests differential relationships between specific working memory tasks and ADHD symptom levels.

1. Introduction
Results
Implications/Future Directions
The Relationship of the Working Memory Index and Subscales to
Dimensional Levels of ADHD Symptoms in a Community Sample
Methods
ADHD
Characterized by high levels of inattention, hyperactivity,
& impulsivity
• Valid and impairing disorder, but controversies in
diagnosis remain
• Symptoms present in general population (Graham, et
al., 2007)
• Neurodevelopmental disorder: Understanding
underlying cognitive processes of ADHD may
increase diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficacy
Working Memory (WM)
Limited capacity system for short-term maintenance and
manipulation of information supporting thought processes
(Baddeley, 1998).
• Plays significant role in organizing behavior
• Behavioral response dependent on WM capacity to
create, maintain, and match representations of input
stimuli (Rapport et al., 2001).
Baddeley’s Revised WM Model
(Baddeley, 2000)
Rapport’s functional WM Model
WM suggested as core deficit of ADHD
• Deficits in WM occur upstream of phenotypic
symptoms of ADHD (Rapport et al. 2008).
• Understanding this underlying construct may lead to
enhanced diagnosis and treatment of ADHD
Assessing ADHD
• No definitive laboratory or medical test for ADHD
• Best practice: multimethod approach
Assessing WM
• No gold standard of measurement; no one method is
guaranteed to engage the neural circuitry of WM
• Common experimental methods: span tasks, change-
detection tasks, serial addition tasks, etc.
•Working Memory Index (WMI; WISC-IV): common
clinical WM assessment
Results (cont’d)
• DS & Arithmetic subtests may be most
related to ADHD symptoms
• Within the DS subscale, DS Backward
appears more related to inattention
symptoms than the combined subscale
• Consistent with WM measurement
literature (DS forward a measure of short-
term memory)
• Individual subscales may be more useful
than the WMI index as a whole in
understanding ADHD symptoms
• Differences in task demands and
activation of WM processes
• Continue data collection and perform
additional analyses with more power and
compare with experimental WM measures
Participants (ongoing study)
• 28 males
• Age 6-12 (mean = 9.07)
• ADHD symptoms rather than diagnosis being
measures, formal ADHD diagnosis not necessary for
inclusion
Measures
• WMI Subtests from WISC-IV:
• Digit Span: Forward and Backward
• Arithmetic: mental arithmetic problem solving
• Conners-3, Parent
• Demographic Information
Analytic Strategy
• Variables: scores on all subtests and questionnaires
• Pearson correlations utilized to characterize
relationships between measures
• Stepwise linear regressions utilized to
C3 Inatt. C3 Hyp
C3 ADHD
Inatt.
C3 ADHD
Hyp.
C3
Comb.
WMI
Arith.
-.562**
-.545**
-.433*
-.536**
-.556**
DS
Forward
-.400*
-.294 -.332 -.335 -.401*
DS
Backward
-.461*
-.321 -.505**
-.353 -.492*
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
To evaluate the relationship between ADHD symptoms
and WM functioning as assessed by clinical measures
Main Hypothesis: Individual subscales and subscale
components of the WMI predicted to be related to
dimensional levels of ADHD symptoms
•Differential relationship between tasks and ADHD
symptoms expected due to differences in task demand
and structure
Colbert, A., Oswald, K., Boussi, K., Reynolds, C., & Bo, J.
Eastern Michigan University
Model R
Square
Sig.
Predictor: Arithmetic
DV: Conners 3P Inattentive
.316 .003
Predictor: DS Backward
DV: Conners 3P ADHD-I
.255 .008
Predictor: Arithmetic
DV: Conners 3P Hyp/Imp
.297 .004
Predictor: Arithmetic
DV: Conners 3P ADHD-HI
.287 .005
Predictor: Arithmetic
DV: Conners 3P ADHD-C
.309 .003
Study Objective
Correlational Analyses
Regression Analyses
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Baddeley, A. (2000). The episodic buffer: a new component of working
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Graham, J., Seth, S. & Coghill, D. (2007). ADHD. Medicine, 35(3), 181-
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Rapport, M. D., Alderson, R. M., Kofler, M. J., Sarver, D. E., Bolden, J.,
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References