Temporal processing deficit in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An online assessment. (August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chan, Agnes S; Ding, Zihan; Lee, Tsz-lok; Sze, Sophia L; Yang, Natalie S
• Is Part Of: Digital health. Volume 8(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Subjects: Temporal processing -- temporal-order judgment task -- attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder -- ADHD; Medical care -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Medical informatics -- Periodicals; 362.10285
• DOI: 10.1177/20552076221120325
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2055-2076

Abstract

Objective: Temporal processing deficits were found among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study aims to develop an online temporal processing assessment that can be conducted remotely, and the sensitivity of the test was assessed on a group of children with ADHD. Methods: A total of 188 children were recruited, including 94 typically developing (TD) children, and 94 children with ADHD. The online assessment consists of two temporal-order judgment (TOJ) tasks. One task used tone pairs presented with two interstimulus intervals (ISIs) (305ms and 40ms). Another task used pairs of consonant-vowel (CV) syllables with 20 varying ISI levels. Participants were asked to determine the sequence of the sound pairs. Results: The results showed that ADHD children were less accurate (ISI 305ms: M = 83.90%; ISI 40ms: M = 66.28%) than TD children (ISI 305ms: M = 89.36%; ISI 40ms: M = 77.16%) in the tone task. Similarly, ADHD children showed a higher ISI passing threshold ( M = 283.64ms) than TD children ( M = 199.76ms) and higher accuracy in the CV task. Hierarchical binary logistic regression suggested a model to predict ADHD children using accuracy in ISI 40ms in the tone task and ISI passing threshold in the CV task. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded a sensitivity of 75.58% and a specificity of 51.11%. Conclusion: ADHD children showed temporal processing deficits of both tones and CVs. The online assessment may be a valid tool for differentiating ADHD children from TD children.