The Effects of Time of Day on Executive Function and Memory in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

<p>This study examined time of day effects on the performance of executive function and memory tasks in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and non-ADHD children. Previous studies have found that ADHD children performed worse on executive function and memory tasks. Also, research has found that time of day influences performance on executive function and memory tasks. The data analysis in this present study consisted of comparing the performance of ADHD children tested in the morning, ADHD children tested in the afternoon, non-ADHD children tested in the morning, and non-ADHD children tested in the afternoon on a variety of tests of executive function and memory.</p> <p>The results of this study suggest that there are differences between ADHD and non-ADHD children and time of day effects on several measures executive function and memory tasks. Non-ADHD children performed better than ADHD children on the Conner’s Continuous Performance Test, Grooved Pegboard, Story Memory Delayed Recall subtest from the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, Second Edition (W RAM L-2), and List A Trial 1 Free Recall from the California Verbal Learning Test-Children’s Version (CVLT-C). Children tested in the afternoon performed better than children tested in the morning on Letter Fluency, Tower of London, Trailmaking Test Trails B, and short delay measures from the CVLT-C. The Recognition Trial from the Rey Complex Figure Test was the only measure to have a significant interaction of time of day and group. The interaction indicated that the ADHD children tested in the afternoon performed significantly worse than the non-ADHD children tested in the afternoon; however, there were no significant differences between ADHD children and non-ADHD children tested in the morning. Since no other interactions were found, these results suggest that time of day does not moderate the performance of ADHD children on tests of executive function and memory.</P>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2007

Author dc:creator

• Garaas, Jennifer M.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.und.edu/theses/498

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.und.edu:theses-1497